Men’s Lacrosse: BU Drops Charles River Rivalry Match to Harvard

By: Hannah Connors

Boston University Men’s Lacrosse (7-2, 3-1 PL) fell to the Harvard University Crimson (6-2, 1-1 Ivy) 16-7 Tuesday night in the annual Charles River Rivalry match. 

“They’re [Harvard] a really good team,” coach Ryan Polley said. “I think the moment again, for a young team, is handling the success of the weekend and then having a short turnaround and coming out, we weren’t ready to play, and that’s on me.”

The Harvard Crimson opened the first quarter hot. 

The Terriers’ defense was sloppy on their transitions out of face-offs and during clears, leading to Harvard netting four goals in just five minutes. 

The Terriers were finally able to break through on a Crimson clear. After Harvard goaltender Graham Stevens made a save, BU’s ten-man-ride set them up for success. While Stevens sent a long shot down, attempting to get an empty-netter, BU goaltender Will Barnes made an interception.

After settling offensively, freshman midfielder Andrew Pape managed to crack Harvard’s defense, netting the Terriers’ first goal of the game.

Following the goal, BU briefly gained some momentum, with attackman Ben Morris generating an unassisted goal, but transition efforts got the better of them for the rest of the quarter. 

With BU unable to maintain possession out of faceoffs, the Crimson ran up the score 2-7 by the end of the first.

The second quarter opened the same for the Terriers. After a faceoff, the first man-up opportunity was given to Harvard. The Crimson quickly generated the first goal of the quarter just 30 seconds in.

Following this, Harvard was able to score 3 consecutive goals, two of which came on the Crimson’s clear. BU’s ten-man-ride left Barnes out of position covering an attackman, leaving an easy open net shot for the Crimson.

“They hit the goal, which is part of what we give up in order to, you know, get some back,” Polley said of the Terriers’ inconsistent ten-man-ride in this game.

After the second empty net goal, the Terriers were able to settle. Defensive efforts caused Harvard’s shot clock to run out, and while clearing the ball, the Crimson drew a cross-checking penalty, putting BU on the man-up for the first time this game.

BU quickly took advantage. Attackman Timothy Shannehan passed to Jimmy Kohr in front of the net, securing the Terriers’ third goal of the game.

Succeeding this goal, BU was able to generate offensive zone time, keeping Harvard to only one goal the last five minutes of the second quarter.

A new Terrier team came out in the second half.

Fogo Matthew Fritz won a clean faceoff and took it down into the BU offensive zone. As the Harvard defense crashed in on Fritz, attempting to pressure him out of bounds, it left defenseman Trey Brown wide open in front of the net to score the Terriers’ fourth goal.

Opposite of the first half, BU’s ten-man ride allowed them to gain more possessions on the Crimson’s clear.

Morris, after being taken to the ground by Harvard’s defense, was eager to get rid of the ball as he got to his feet. He then passed to Kohr, who slid in front of his defender and notched a behind-the-back shot into the net.

BU held off Crimson’s offense for most of the third quarter, but let up at the end of the third. 

With one minute left in the quarter, offensive player Miles Botkiss found attackman Jack Speidell across the net. Speidell was able to find a nice seam to slip his shot through, ending the third quarter 5-13.

The last quarter Harvard came back with the energy they had in the first half.

Although the first five minutes of the quarter featured good back-and-forth play, attackman Sam King broke the no-scoring streak for the Crimson five minutes in.

Shortly after BU gained a penalty, putting Harvard on the man-up which they were able to capitalize on.

The Terriers had a short-lived burst of offensive prowess during a man-up play. Attackman Jimmy O’Connell found Kohr, who netted a goal. However, Harvard quickly erased this effort by scoring almost immediately afterward.

Kohr was able to net his fourth goal at the end of the game, but BU had dug itself into a hole from the first period that it couldn’t get out of.

“He’s [Jimmy Kohr] is just so two-handed,” Polley said. “He kind of understands offensive concepts really well, and can score in multiple ways, whether it’s, you know, right-handed, left-handed, or outside range or dodging…he’s a complete player.”

With four minutes left, it seemed Harvard knew they had clinched the win as they switched goalies. In the final minute, Harvard’s offense stood watching the clock wind down, while BU watched helplessly, putting in no defensive effort and accepting their defeat.

“We have to hit the reset button…,” Polley said. “We had a similar setback to Navy, and we were able to kind of hit the reset button and put together three really good Patriot League games, and we’ll do our best to do that again.”

The Terriers will aim to bounce back this Friday at 4 p.m. against Holy Cross at Nickerson Field. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.