The outcome of the game was never in doubt. A 9-3 team faced off against a 3-9 team, and the result surprised nobody.

Wednesday, the Harvard men's lacrosse team crushed the University of New Hampshire, 15-4, in front of 100 spectators in Durham, N.H.

The Crimson is ranked eighth in the nation and looking for its first NCAA playoff bid since 1980. Unranked and luckless New Hampshire, a team that lost to Yale by only one goal, hasn't had a very memorable season and is now just one game away from summer vacation.

"We had two main objectives going into this game," Harvard Coach Scott Anderson said. "First, we realized that scores are now important for rankings and so we wanted to demonstrate that we really are a good team and that we can win by a lot. Second, we are building for the play offs, and so we wanted to play up to our potential. It takes discipline to go out and not play down to your opponent's level."

The Crimson did just what it wanted to do and dominated from the start. Freshman attacker Mickey Cavuoti, still hot from Saturday's six-goal performance which earned him Ivy League Player and Rookie of the Week honors, shredded the Wildcats' defense with his quick moves towards the cage. Cavuoti netted a hat trick in the first quarter to give Harvard a 3-0 lead.

Second quarter goals by Steve Lux, Perry Dodge and David Kramer increased the Crimson lead to 6-0 by the intermission.

Harvard's defense was solid and allowed the Wildcats only nine shots in the entire first half.

"The defense didn't have to play that much," said senior defender Brian McGinley. "We were not really challenged."

At Last

New Hampshire finally got on the scoreboard at 8:56 of the third quarter. However, the one Wildcat goal was matched by five Harvard goals.

The third-quarter goals for the Crimson were scored by Dodge, Kramer, junior defender Peter Long and junior attackman Brad Raymond. Raymond tallied twice in the quarter, once on a pass from Cavuoti and once on a pass from Nick Nero.

The final quarter was a little closer, but even with many of its reserves on the field, Harvard still had the edge. Goalie Michael Bergmann, who made 10 saves and allowed only one goal, was replaced by Jim Yue, who made six saves and gave up three goals.

"A lot of people got to play," McGinley said. "Everyone who got in played well."

Four More

The Crimson scored four more times in the last 15 minutes, matching its top offensive performance for the third time this year.

"It was a great offensive effort," McGinley said. "We scored on a lot of a different types of situations: one-on-ones, fast breaks and team oriented plays. The offense was really clicking."

Harvard dominated not only on the scoreboard, but also in all statistical areas. The squad scooped up 61 groundballs, as compared to only 40 for the Wildcats. The Crimson won 16 of the 22 faceoffs and failed clear the ball only five times, while New Hampshire failed to clear the ball eight times.

"We didn't expect too much from them," Cavuoti said. "It was a game that we had to win, and we did."