The No. 13/16 Harvard men’s lacrosse team led from beginning to end as it upended Penn State Saturday afternoon at Soldiers Field Lacrosse Stadium, 12-9.
Freshman Joe Lang was the story once again for the Crimson attack, scoring four goals for his second straight hat trick. Sean McDonagh turned in a career-high four points with one goal and three assists, while Deke Burns and Ian Ardrey added two goals apiece.
Sean Coleman, Keegan Michel and Matt Ryan also found the back of the net and Devin Dwyer dished out an assist to extend his point-scoring streak to 23 games.
Junior Bryan Moore, making his first career start, came away with 12 saves to earn the victory and improve to 3-0 on the year. Moore turned aside five attempts in the first quarter to help Harvard create separation, and made five more saves in the fourth to secure the victory.
Austin Williams went 12-of-23 at the X and collected three ground balls. Ryan led the team with four ground balls, with Stephen Jahelka and Sean Mahon also chipping in three. Jahelka, Brian Fischer and Brendan Newman were each credited with two caused turnovers.
With the win, Harvard improved to 3-1 on the year and moved to 3-0 at home. The Crimson will now head out on a four-game road trip, its longest of the season, beginning Monday, March 9 at Holy Cross.
Harvard began the game with a 1:00 un-releasable penalty but successfully navigated the man-down situation to set the tone at the defensive end. After killing off the penalty McDonagh put the Crimson on the board, beginning a 4-0 run that included strikes by Michel and Ardrey, and was capped by Coleman’s first career tally.
Penn State (2-3) responded with three straight goals to pull within 4-3, but Lang and Burns ended the run with their first scores of the day to regain a 6-3 margin. The Nittany Lions made it a one-goal game once again with two quick scores as time was winding down in the first half, but a shot by Ryan as time expired deflected off a defender and into the goal to put Harvard in front 7-5 at the break.
The Crimson extended its lead to 10-5 with three successive goals in the third quarter and held an 11-6 advantage in the fourth following Lang’s third of the day. Penn State got to within 11-8 with 9:21 remaining in the game, but Lang answered the call once again to move the score to 12-8. Moore made all five of his fourth-quarter saves down the stretch to hold off the Nittany Lions and give Harvard the victory, 12-9.
Game Notes: Harvard is 3-1 to begin the year for the first time since 2011 … Devin Dwyer recorded one assist to extend his point-scoring streak to 23 games … Joe Lang registered his second straight hat trick with four goals … Joe Lang has recorded at least one point in each of Harvard’s four games this season, and has totaled at least three points in three games … Long Stick Midfielder Matt Ryan has scored a goal in each of Harvard’s last three games … Bryan Moore earned the win in his first career start to improve to 3-0 on the year … Stephen Jahelka recorded three ground balls and two caused turnovers in his first action of the year … Harvard improved to 25-10 at home under Chris Wojcik ’96, The Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard Men’s Lacrosse, and 14-2 at Soldiers Field Lacrosse Stadium.
