After enduring a losing streak that ended exactly one month after it began, the Harvard men’s lacrosse team finished its season with the “Spirit of 7 to 6.”
The Crimson (8-7, 1-5 Ivy) won its first four games before hitting a tough seven-game skid that included much of the Ivy schedule. But Harvard tightened up down the stretch and won its final four contests—the last three by identical 7-6 margins, two in overtime—to finish the season with a winning record.
“It would have been nice if we hadn’t lost seven in a row before [the win streak], but to be honest, all of us will remember what happened here at the end—that’s how it always is,” said Harvard senior defenseman Mike Packard after the Crimson’s season-ending win over Dartmouth. “I couldn’t be happier for all the guys for helping us seniors get out of here on a win.”
Packard and his classmates will certainly have fond memories of the way their final season at Harvard began, as well.
Harvard burst out of the gates to a 4-0 record, beginning with a 10-9 win at Bucknell in which junior Jay Wich scored four times. After that, the Crimson dispatched Hartford, 11-7, in the season opener at Jordan Field, thanks to hat tricks from senior co-captain Jim Christian and junior attacker Matt Primm.
Harvard then traveled down I-95 to take on Providence, easily dispatching the Friars, 11-3, on the strength of three goals and three assists from Wich. The Crimson returned home on March 16 and knocked off Fairfield, 10-8, to give itself momentum heading into Ivy play.
Of course, behind each Harvard win was the steady play of sophomore goaltender Jake McKenna, who was named Second Team All-Ivy following the season.
“Jake’s been absolutely outstanding,” junior Doug Logigian said during the season. “I don’t think any goalie in the country’s been nearly as consistent as he has. Just having him is such a reassurance to the rest of us.”
McKenna was again on top of his game when the Ivy season opened, making 11 saves in the league opener at Pennsylvania. But—in a trend that continued for six more games—it wasn’t enough, as Harvard dropped a 7-5 decision.
A tough loss at Duke over spring break followed, and once the Crimson returned to its Ivy slate the song remained the same. Harvard was defeated soundly at home by NCAA qualifiers Cornell and Princeton, with a near miss at Brown sandwiched in between.
A midweek trip to UMass on April 17 resulted in another loss, in spite of freshman Mike McBride’s first collegiate hat trick. The Crimson nearly stopped the streak at six games the following Saturday, but fell to Yale in New Haven, 6-5.
And then came a trip to Worcester. Harvard’s turning point came there in a 16-5 thrashing of Holy Cross on April 23. Eight different Crimson players scored and three seniors—Christian, Michael Baly and Derek Nowak—had two goals apiece, perhaps playing with a renewed sense of urgency.
“When we win, it’s pretty impressive to look at our offense,” Logigian said after the victory. “It really shows how balanced our offense really is.”
The Crimson followed up that victory by gutting out a dramatic 7-6 overtime win over Notre Dame later that week. Jeff Gottschall scored the tying goal with 15 seconds to play in regulation, and Primm—an Honorable Mention All-Ivy selection—netted the game-winner at 3:03 of overtime.
It took a bit longer for Harvard to close out its next win against Colgate, but at the end of the day things looked the same. The Crimson pushed the Raiders to double overtime after rallying from a 5-1 third quarter deficit and capped the comeback on a game-winner from Logigian with 1:04 left in the second extra frame.
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