The Crimson lacrosse team, coming off a sweep of last Saturday's round robin at Harvard, learned the Mid-Atlantic brand of lacrosse the hard way, running a gauntlet of Rutgers, Navy, Franklin & Marshall and Adelphi.

In the round robin, the stickmen trimmed the Boston Lacrosse Club 6-4 and Wesleyan 9-4; and dissuaded Tufts from any further competition after building an insurmountable second-quarter lead. Harvard won 10-0 as Tufts declined to play the last two periods.

But at Rutgers last Tuesday, the Crimson fell behind 5-2 at the half and, outshot 38 to 22, ultimately lost 11-4. Captain John Hagerty, attackman Steve Milliken and attackman Jim Quinn garnered assists.

The next day, at Annapolis, the Naval Academy carried its 27-game win streak over Harvard into its annual tilt with the Crimson and wasn't about to see the skein end, not even for charity. The Midshipmen rained 79 shots on netminders Bob Coplan and Brian Everist and coasted to a 17-1 halftime advantage and 21-4 win on attackman Nick Smilari's six goals--all in the first half--and a second quarter bombing of 11 unanswered points.

Relief came for the Crimson in the third period when Middie coach Dick Szlasa emptied his bench. The fourth quarter belonged to Harvard attackman Jack Judkins who scored twice, once unassisted, and again off a pass from breaking Frank Gerold.

Other scorers were Steve Milliken, on a hard bounce shot in the first quarter, after a feed by Garth Ballantyne, and Fred Adair, on the most controlled Crimson play of the game, taking a perfect pass from Quinn, in the third quarter.

After the momentous drubbing was dealt by number-one-ranked Navy, the closest contest came the next day against Franklin & Marshall, when the 20th ranked Diplomats barely hung on to top the Crimson 10-8.

"We were in it throughout the whole game," midfielder Richard Carey said yesterday. "Man for man we were much stronger than they were; it was our mistakes on clears and rides that hurt us."

The trip ended on Long Island where the seventh-ranked Adelphi stickmen took a 16-5 decision Saturday.