The Harvard men's lacrosse team lost a, well, not-so-close one for its first game of the season.

The Crimson (0-1) dropped the road contest to the Fairfield Stags (2-0), 13-5.

"We just didn't come out with the intensity," junior midfielder Geoff Watson said. "We didn't do a lot of our offensive sets in the game.

"Pretty much top-to-bottom, we were all a little rusty."

The Crimson was led in the losing effort by sophomore midfielder Roger Buttles and sophomore attacker Dana Sprong, who each had two goals and an assist. Watson also had a goal for the Crimson.

Harvard, ranked No. 20 in the nation in the "Face-Off Magazine" pre-season poll, started the game off on the right foot in the first period when Watson's shot on Fairfield goalkeeper Brad Tarr found the net. Sophomore defenseman/midfielder Kanu Okike assisted on the play at 13:05.

Fairfield quickly bounced back to run off three straight goals in five minutes. Two of those goals, as well as an assist on the third, came from the Stags' Spencer Steele.

Steele, a "College Lacrosse USA" preseason All-America honorable mention, tied the Stags' single-game record for goals with six against the Crimson.

"He is a tremendous player," Watson said. "He was just a big, strong attackman. He moved well off the ball, and they worked well as a team to get him the ball."