The UMass Minutemen made it very clear Saturday that they are the best lacrosse team in New England, blowing the Crimson stickmen off the field at Amherst, 18-7.
The showdown that might have been turned into a nightmare for Harvard. Had the stickmen beaten Brown last Wednesday instead of bowing to Bruins in overtime, Saturday's match against the Minutemen would have meant a chance for an NCAA tournament berth.
Instead, the Crimson laxmen were deflated after the near miss against Brown, and never recovered their edge. "There was a visible letdown after Brown," Harvard coach Bob Scalise said yesterday, "and we never bounced back." It showed--the Crimson looked flat and UMass played its best game of the year.
Fast Off the Mark
The Minutemen came off the mark fast, charging out to a 5-0 lead before their visitors managed their first score. The lead was 10-2 by halftime, and UMass just coasted home from there, recording its seventh consecutive win.
Three of the Minutemen--midfielder Terry Keefe, Kevin Patterson, and Paul Martin--and ended up with hat tricks. Attackmen Jeff Spooner ran the offense, and picked up six assists for his effort.
Harvard got hat tricks in return from midfielder Kevin McCall, and attackman Billy Tennis, who now leads the squad with 35 goals and 52 points. Chico MacKenzie added a lone tally, and fellow attackman Steve Martin clicked for three assists, raising his team-leading total to 31. Midfielder Bruce Bruckmann, working his way back to full speed after a costly injury, connected form one assist.
Penetration
Scalise said yesterday that the one thing his squad lacks to move into the top ten along with teams like the seventh-ranked Minutemen is "a few individuals who can penetrate, who can get you that quick goal. We have to pass the ball, work for our goals. it takes us time to score and sometimes we just can't keep up."
The stickmen travel to Williams on Wednesday for what will hopefully shape up as an easy match, and then meet Dartmouth here in Cambridge Saturday. Wins in those contests would give Harvard its finest record in years--10-5, 3-3 in the Ivy League. That would certainly be counted as a successful season, considering that last year's squad finished 4-9, and lost five of its six Ivy League contests.
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