Men’s Lacrosse: Terriers Look to Get Back on Track Against Harvard

By: Marisa Ingemi

For the first time this season, Boston University is in a position where they need to bounce back. The Terriers will host the Harvard Crimson on Tuesday night following a 12-6 loss to Bucknell on Saturday, the first time all season the BU offense was shut down.

The conference loss is concerning in a Patriot League where Loyola and Army have risen to the top, but Saturday’s game against Lafayette becomes all the more crucial. Before heading back into PL action, however, the Terriers face the Crimson in one of two final nonconference games.

Historically, BU has fared well out of conference, getting off to good starts the past three seasons. The Terriers defeated Harvard on the road last season 9-8 in one of their bigger wins in program history at the time.

Harvard is led by attackman Morgan Cheek and midfielder Joe Lang, the remnants of a strong offensive unit last season that lost leading scorer Devin Dwyer. In net, Robert Shaw is one of the best goalies of the Ivy League.

The Crimson entered the season as a potential darkhorse to win the Ivy crown with Yale getting off to a shaky start and Brown losing a lot of their scoring and their head coach, Lars Tiffany, who went to Virginia.

The Terriers, meanwhile, have seen their offense narrowed to an attack led by Cal Dearth, Jack Wilson, and Ryan Hillburn over recent weeks. Freshman John MacLean has slowed down as well as sophomores James Burr and Brendan Homire. The Terriers have the most different players in the nation who have contributed offensively with 21 different players.

The Terrier defense remains near the top of the league behind Christian Carson-Banister, and freshman Chase Levesque has found himself to be a nice fit in the starting defense.

There hasn’t been the opportunity for many local rivalries to develop in New England in college lacrosse until new programs like BU have emerged, and with BU just across the river from Harvard, the Terriers’ rise to being a ranked contender has created an authentic rivalry potential with the Crimson, giving Boston lacrosse fans the closest it can come to having a rivalry game.

Game time is at 7pm and can be seen live on the Patriot League Network.