The University of Vermont men's lacrosse team put on its smock and played sculpture yesterday at Ohiri Field.

The Crimson owned a six-goal advantage at the end of the first half, but the Catamounts chipped away at Harvard's clay lead, shaping it--by the beginning of the fourth quarter--into something grotesque, a gargoyle.

With 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, UVM had shrunk the Crimson's advantage to two. Harvard was left staring at an ugly image of itself, its offense dead, its defense embattled.

The Crimson recorded its first goal of the second half with 3:59 remaining in the game, and went on to prevail, 10-5. But the harrowing image of its third period futility lingered.

"We let up," Harvard Tri-Captain Bill Pennoyer said. "We're not that good. If we don't play our best, we can't beat everybody. We have to play our best to do anything."

If Harvard and its fellow Ivy League schools are the purebreads of college lacrosse, then UMV is the mutt. But yesterday, the dogs--or, rather, the Cats--got hungry.

Down 7-2 with three minutes left in the third quarter, Vermont clawed back. UVM attackman Craig Mygatt took a pass from Tim Shannehan and stuffed a shot past Harvard goalie Mike Bergmann to cut Harvard's lead to four. A minute later, Mygatt struck again, firing a 10-ft. shot past Bergmann.

With five minutes gone in the final quarter, Mygatt again played a part in a Cat goal, this time setting up Karl Langmuir for a shot over the middle. Suddenly, Harvard's advantage had dwindled to two.

"Harvard was switching along the crease and covering the crease pretty well," UVM Coach Jeff Thomsen said. "We were hoping to get some good feeds on the crease. We just tried to do our thing."

Harvard could allow a team like UVM to get back in the game without sustaining lasting injury. Even at half-speed, Harvard was the better team, which it showed near game's end when it orchistrated a series of pretty plays over the middle, three of them going for goals. But, ideally, a game like yesterday's serves a purpose beyond putting a slash in the win column.

Ideally, yesterday's game would serve as a tune-up for later contests against fiercer foes. In the next two weeks, the Crimson will face St. John's, Adelphi and Brown. The Brown game, in Providence, R.L., is especially important. The winner will remain in contention for the Ivy League title.

If Harvard, now ranked 11th in national polls, hopes to finish near the top of the Ivy League standings and in the nation's top 10, it will have to play complete games. Where Vermont scored three goals in 17 minutes, a team like Brown or Yale may have scored five.

And five would have tied the game.

"Everyone wants to do well, it's just a matter of making it click," Pennoyer said.

Harvard's defense is generally regarded as the team's strong suit. But, as common wisdom has it, the best defense is a good offense. And for 24 minutes yesterday, Harvard's offense failed to score.

"I think the offense is coming into its own," Pennoyer said. "It's solid. If the defense leads, great. If the offense leads, we'll take it."

Harvard will take yesterday's game, too, although there's 24 minutes it would like to remake.