Kicking off the 2009 season, Harvard men’s lacrosse traveled to Durham, N.C. on Sunday to take on No. 5 Duke. In an exciting matchup, the Crimson came away with a 9-6 victory, dealing the Blue Devils their first loss on the season. Rookie Jeff Cohen—young

The Harvard men’s lacrosse team began its season with a bang, claiming a 9-6 upset over No. 5 Duke yesterday afternoon.

The Crimson, who had not won against the Blue Devils since 2001, handed Duke its first loss of the season, dropping the Devils’ record to 2-1.

Harvard dominated Duke in shooting during the contest, registering 45 shots on goal to the Devils’ 29. The Crimson had a 24-7 shot advantage in the first half alone.

Harvard freshman Jeff Cohen also entered onto the collegiate lacrosse scene in fine form, filling in for pneumonia-plagued sophomore standout Dean Gibbons. Cohen tallied a hat trick in his first appearance in Harvard’s crimson and white, and helped his new team to its first victory of 2009.

“[Cohen] played really well and he really stepped up in his first game,” said junior midfielder Jason Duboe. “It’s really exciting to watch him play.”

Although the Crimson outshot and outscored its opponents, this offensive advantage was not always obvious.

Duke began the game coming onto the field with engines firing, and recorded an early 11:56 goal in the first quarter.

Harvard would have to wait for revenge against the Devil’s lone score—but when it responded it did so with a vengeance. The Crimson, led by its new freshman star, recorded three unanswered tallies in the second quarter.

Cohen began the Crimson’s scoring spree at 11:09, finding the net with an assist from senior co-captain Max Motschwiller.

The freshman attackman wasted no time before notching another Harvard goal, scoring again at 10:41 from senior Nick Sapia.

Junior Travis Burr finished the Crimson’s second quarter run, adding another tally from Sapia at 5:39.

“We came out with some really good energy,” said senior co-captain Nick Smith. “It was great that we were able to hold Duke to one in the first half and that really frustrated them.”

However, the matchup was not decided after the Crimson’s initial showing. Duke returned to the field and scored back-to-back goals in the third quarter, tying up the game 3-3.

Harvard responded with a four-goal streak to end the third, securing the lead for the rest of the contest.

Duboe began the second half offensive with an unassisted goal at 4:41, followed by Cohen’s third, and final, tally of the day. Burr recorded his second score of the matchup at 1:54 from Motschwiller, who found the net himself with only nine seconds remaining in the quarter.

The game concluded with three fourth-quarter Blue Devil goals and two Crimson tallies from junior Jesse Fehr and senior Jeff Wannop, to bring the final score up to 9-6 Harvard.

“In general it was just a great team effort,” said Duboe. “We all controlled the game from start to finish and basically took care of the ball.”

Senior co-captain Sam Slaughter echoed Duboe’s praises of his team.

“We really controlled the tempo of the game,” said Slaughter. “We played with a lot of discipline and I think that made the difference today.”

Although the Crimson was able to knock out their first top-10 team in head coach John Tillman’s time in Cambridge, Harvard will not be resting on its laurels. The Crimson has hard work ahead of it as the team attempts to surpass its 6-8, 1-5 conference record from 2008.

“I definitely think this win is a great start, but we have a long road ahead of us and lots of improvements to make,” said Motschwiller. “We’re very excited about the win but we’re going to stay focused.”

Despite the necessary hard work, Duboe is confident in his team’s ability to succeed in the upcoming season.

“We’re going to gel on offense as the weeks go along and really find our roles, and our defense is going to shore up on everything,” said Duboe. “It’s definitely great to start out with a win—we’re just excited to keep the momentum going.”

Harvard will look for another victory next Saturday as it travels to New York to take on Stony Brook.

—Staff writer Alexandra J. Mihalek can be reached at amihalek@fas.harvard.edu.