The bottom line: Saturday afternoon was not a good outing for the Harvard men’s lacrosse team.

After strong, aggressive possession in the previous two weeks, as well as outstanding defense from sophomore Evan O’Donnell and freshman Joe Pike in goal, the squad came up short in each category this weekend.

And Cornell was there to pick up the loose ends.

“It’s what we didn’t do today, not so much what they did,” Crimson coach Scott Anderson said.

Harvard could not hold onto the ball.

With multiple red shirts swarming towards each attacker within ten feet of the goal, it was impossible for the Crimson to take many good shots—and off many bad shots came turnovers.

The game’s composite statistics were relatively misleading: despite just a 33-28 advantage in shots for the Big Red, and an equal 17 turnovers, Cornell’s solid defense allowed it to control both the ball and the pace of the game.

“Their offense came to play and their defense obviously did too, because they were sliding real fast and they were in our face every time we turned around,” junior Greg Cohen said. “So it was just real tough to get to the cage.”

And when the offense could not hold onto the ball, it was up to the defense to either get it back—or hold up for a full 60 minutes.

Even in the second quarter it was clear the defense was not up to the task.

The youngest section of the team, it quickly showed signs of fatigue and could not match the energized play of its Big Red counterparts.

Unlike Cornell, Harvard left many red shirts unguarded, leading to multiple open shots from the perimeter and even directly outside the crease and in front of the goal.

With 4:46 gone in the second quarter, defenders left O’Donnell alone with two attackers, which led to a score on an open goal.

But the goaltender matchup did not help the cause either; O’Donnell and Pike were outplayed by Big Red junior goaltender Matt McMonagle.

“He played out of his mind today,” junior Greg Cohen said. “Maybe that’s regular for him, I don’t know, but he played really well.”

McMonagle had 14 saves and allowed three goals, while Pike and O’Donnell each made just four saves and allowed five goals.

Although much could attributed to a lack of defense, neither player was at the top of his game.

Pike was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week during the previous week after his five saves in three overtimes against Denver, and O’Donnell posted seven saves in the first quarter alone in the same game.

Expected to continue play as a well in goal on Saturday, both goaltenders were unable to save many of the easier shots and none of the more difficult ones.

“I don’t think it was the best game for either one of them,” Anderson said.

But overall the loss could not alone be attributed to either of the two aspects, but rather to the Crimson’s lack of confidence and aggression.

Cornell was much more physical, and both quicker to and bolder with the ball, and in order to win lacrosse games, players must be sufficiently poised to do just that. Harvard fell into a hole that it could not dig from

“People [were] just not diving hard and not drawing slides,” Anderson said. “We almost looked like we were not willing to dodge against long sticks in the midfield and you can’t play that way.”

—Staff writer Madeleine Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.