The Harvard men's lacrosse team hopped on the bus for Adelphi this weekend with three simple objectives:

It wanted to continue its strong defensive play.

It wanted to put everything together on the offensive end.

And finally, it wanted solid play in the net.

These three things would be the recipe for a victory. And sure enough, the team hopped back on the bus after Saturday's game having achieved its goals, and sporting its first victory of the season: a 13-8 win over Adelphi.

The big variable in this victory equation was the offensive play. Harvard's young, inexperienced offense gave the Crimson four straight losses coming into Saturday's game in Garden City, Long Island.

But against Adelphi, Harvard created a balanced attack, with eight different players scoring and a ninth collecting an assist.

"Saturday was by far our best offensive performance," Harvard Coach Scott Anderson said. "The scoring was well spread. We got some good effort from many people."

Just waiting to explode were Harvard's two brightest offensive stars: sophomore Steve Gaffney tallied three goals and one assist, and freshman Mike Eckert two goals and two assists).

Leading 5-2 heading into the second half, Harvard knew that the key to victory would come from its attack, while delivered eight goals, two in each quarter, to hold off a six-goal spurt by an Adelphi team in the midst of its worst season in years.

"In the second half, it came down to the fact that we were able to convert on our offensive opportunities," said junior Mike Porter, who scored twice on just three shots.

Strong Defense

Porter made sure to give credit, though, where credit is due, namely to Harvard's over-sized, immensely talented defenders: sophomore Mason Wynocker, senior Read Hubbard and Co-Captain Eric Bentley.

"The defense played really well," Porter said. "As usual, Bentley was all over the field. He shut down their number-one scorer."

Adelphi's primary weakness remains its depth, and Harvard took good advantage of the opportunity to run the Long Island natives ragged.