BALTIMORE, Md.--The Harvard men's lacrosse team shot themselves in the foot yesterday, en route to losing 23-12 to the blitzkrieg attack of the University of Virginia. The Cavaliers played a strong game, but the Crimson was clearly not at its best.

During the post-game interviews, Harvard coach Scott Anderson summed up the day well.

"I think that was a very good team that played a very good game today," Anderson said. "I think we are a good team that didn't play as well as we are capable of today, and that creates the large margin."

"We were a little too revved-up, a little too excited about being there," he said.

From the beginning, the inexperience of the Crimson squad showed as they made uncharacteristic errors.

"We weren't afraid of anybody," sophomore Mike Ferrucci said.

The over-excitement Anderson alluded to resulted in offsides, careless losses of possession and unnecessary penalties for the Crimson. Perhaps Virginia's only fault on the day was that it also took a lot of penalties.

"I have been happy all year with the effort and pride that the kids demonstrated," Anderson said. "The more experience you have with playoffs, the easier it is to put all of the distractions of the crowd and the hype behind you."

"You don't fault kids for caring too much," he said.

Unfortunately for the Crimson, who never led in the game, the team had little playoff experience. The order of the day thus became playing catch-up.

"You can't let a team like this get up on you early," Ferrucci said.

However, that is exactly what happened. From 11:06 in the first quarter to 4:04 in the second, Harvard was held scoreless. In the meantime, UVA netted eight unanswered goals.

As the first quarter ended, Virginia had taken an 8-2 lead. By halftime, it was 15-6 in the Cavalier's favor.

Virginia's go-to players were in top form. With superstar Doug Knight (5 goals) flying across the crease and his wingman Tim Whiteley (2 goals, 6 assists) continually getting him the ball, the Cavalier attack was practically unstoppable.

Virginia coach Dom Starsia said he was very pleased with his team after the game.

"When we get you in flight, that's when we're the most dangerous," he said. And he was right.

However, Virginia did not earn all of their scores.

"They had a lot of goals inside on broken plays, there's nothing you can really do about that," Ferrucci said.

Co-captain Mike Eckert echoed his attackman's sentiment.

"I think we did about everything in our power to help them win the game," Eckert said. Harvard  12 Virginia  23

"We didn't capitalize on our man-up opportunities and we made more mental mistakes today than we have the entire year," Eckert added.

While Anderson attributed Harvard's error-filled play to the players' over-excitement, Eckert noted that the weather also contributed to the frenzied atmosphere.

"I think a lot of that has to be attributed to the heat," Eckert said.

He really understated the case, as the temperatures on the turf were nearing, if not exceeding, 100 degrees.

But the Harvard players and coaches would not use the sweltering turf conditions, nor anything else as an excuse for their play. Not even ailing goaltender Rob Lyng, who had 21 saves, complained about the conditions.

"I'm sure it was a problem for [Lyng], but he doesn't talk about it," Anderson said. "I take a lot of pride in it as well, and don't make any excuses. It was hot. We played the game, and that's the way it went."

The Crimson did not play terribly by any means, but because of a combination of factors, the team just could not claw their way back into the contest.

"The game could have been a different game. We had a lot of man-up opportunities early," Anderson said. "We made some mistakes today...I am not sure that we handled the pressure as well as we could have."

One facet of the game upon which the contest truly seemed to turn was the face-off. Virginia used a bevy of midfielders to face-off and ironically took 23 draws to Harvard's 12--the same as the goal tally.

"When we're winning face-offs, we're a tough team," Starsia said.

Without possession, Harvard's attack could not get into the necessary rhythm.

However, it was not just the restarts that Virginia executed masterfully. Their whole game, interior defense, clearing and, of course, the high powered attack, was firing on all cylinders.

"We were flying around, passing the ball, and when everyone is moving their feet, we're a hard team to stop," Whiteley said.

Hopkins, congratulations on your win over Maryland, but beware. Whiteley was right. When they are playing well, Virginia is hard to stop.CrimsonE. Houston WuJunior goalie ROB LYNG (in earlier action) stopped 21 Viriginia shots, but it wasn't enough as Harvard lost.