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Harvard freshman Jeff Cohen led the No. 16 Crimson lacrosse team’s offensive charge against Hartford University’s Hawks (0-4) this past Friday night at home on Cumnock Turf. The Crimson (3-1) overwhelmed its non-conference opponent, 18-7.

Cohen netted five of Harvard’s 18 goals, setting a new career-high for goals in a game and revitalizing the Crimson’s attack that had been missing in its last outing against University of Massachusetts only a week before.

“It was obviously a disappointing week last week,” Crimson coach John Tillman said of last week’s loss. “And, we were really challenged to bounce back; to try to respond. We started out really strongly [against Hartford.] So that’s a big credit to our guys.”



The Crimson win saw great performances from junior Jesse Fehr, who had a hat trick, classmate Travis Burr, who collected a career-best four goals, and Cohen, who recorded a career-high five tallies. But the 18-7 win was a real testament to the Crimson’s willingness to play as a team.

“We really moved the ball well,” said Cohen. “Almost all of my goals were assisted, and we played the way we knew we could play.”

Most of the games action was on Hartford’s end of the field. But, despite not facing a huge offensive threat, Harvard’s defense also delivered a solid performance on the night. Senior goalie Joe Pike made five saves in nearly 55 minutes of action, and the Crimson defense held the Hawks scoreless on three man-up opportunities throughout the game.

“Because we possessed the ball so much on offense, there were times when we played on our heels,” said Coach Tillman. “We are best when we are really aggressive. So we will really emphasize getting back to basics [in this next week of practice].”

Harvard jumped to an early advantage over the Hawks, scoring three goals within the first five minutes of the game. Burr opened the game with a goal at 11:41. Receiving a pass from freshman Kevin Vaughan behind the net, Burr buried the shot from a front-on look at the goal.

Burr’s goal was quickly followed by a goal from senior co-captain Nick Smith and another by freshman Terry White. White fired a side-arm shot from 20 yards out past the Hartford goalie, increasing the Crimson’s lead.

Junior Jason Duboe, Burr and Cohen added on to the lead in the latter half of the first, giving Harvard a 6-0 advantage by the end of the first period.

In the second period, the Hawks began to chip away at the Crimson’s lead, but the Crimson carried on its offensive momentum from the first quarter, soon crippling the hopes of a Hartford comeback.

Just over mid-way through the period, Vaughan caught a fast break off of a Hartford turnover, sending the ball to senior Jeff Wannop, who fired it into the lower left corner of the net. Shortly thereafter, Duboe launched another rocket for a goal, followed by a Burr tally. Harvard entered halftime ahead 9-3.

Hartford grabbed two quick goals within an eight-second window early in the second half of the game, but the Crimson answered with an 8-0 run, led by junior Jesse Fehr, Burr and Cohen.

Fehr sparked Harvard’s scoring spree, finding the net off a pass from Cohen at 8:41 in the third period. A couple of minutes later, Fehr assisted Burr, who put in his fourth goal of the game. Cohen then added his third and fourth tallies before Fehr closed out the period with another score at 1:29.

In the beginning of the fourth period, senior co-captain Max Motschwiller found the back of the net and was the eighth Crimson player to score on the day, highlighting what was a real team effort.

“I think we shared the ball and moved the ball much faster,” Coach Tillman said of his offense. “We made better choices. We were much more unselfish. And, we stuck our shots.”

Cohen and Fehr capped off the scoring streak for Harvard in the final period, each player finding the back of the net one more time before the end of the game.