After missing significant action due to a hamstring injury, Kane made a triumphant return to the starting lineup last Tuesday on Jordan Field, recording a hat trick to lead the Harvard men’s lacrosse team past Quinnipiac, 9-3.

Kane—the leading goal scorer for the Crimson last season—recorded all three of his tallies in the first half, as Harvard stormed out to 7-1 lead at halftime and never looked back against the Bobcats (1-6).

Kane lead by example, as he scored two nearly identical diving goals in the first quarter.

“It was nice to get going early and get a goal,” said Kane. “I haven’t really played attack that much at Harvard, [but] I played it in high school.”

Ahead 2-1 early in the second quarter, the Crimson took over the game with a string of six consecutive goals spanning into the second half.

Mahler—playing midfielder due to Harvard’s depth at attack—began the Crimson onslaught. Just moments after ringing a shot off the post, Mahler took a pass from Greg Cohen and bounced a shot past Quinnipiac goalie James Nastro.

Gottschall pushed the score to 5-1 with consecutive goals. After Gottschall converted a pass from Mahler, Kane found Greg Cohen with a blind pass, who fed Gottschall in front for the score.

With time running out in the half, Harvard put the game out of reach. Sophomore defensive midfielder Peter Doyle picked up a ground ball and fed Kane, who sprinted into the zone and ripped a high shot past Nastro.

On the ensuing faceoff, freshman midfielder Adam Mahfouda scooped up the ground ball, bounced off defenders like a pinball and scored an incredible goal to give the Crimson a 7-1 halftime lead.

With the game basically in hand, the second half saw a lot less action, as each team could manage just two goals after the break.

“We made some mistakes in the second half and really didn’t finish what we started,” Kane said. “We really would have loved to score a couple more goals.”

Sophomore defensive midfielder Brian Wannop echoed the sentiments of his teammate.

“In the first half, it was a solid effort, but we kind of let up in the second half,” he said. “We started making some mental mistakes.”

Gottschall recorded both of the second half goals for Harvard, giving him four tallies on the day.

Despite the lack of offense in the second half, the Crimson defense continued to stifle the Bobcat offense, which managed just 22 shots on the day. In goal, captain Jake McKenna made 13 saves, recording an impressive .813 save percentage.