Harvard Men’s Lacrosse and No. 12/10 Duke to Meet Saturday Live on NBC Sports Network


The Crimson and Blue Devils will clash in front of a national TV audience (Gil Talbot).

The Storyline
The Harvard men’s lacrosse team will welcome No. 12/10 Duke to Harvard Stadium Saturday, March 30 at 7 p.m. for a non-conference showdown live on NBC Sports Network. Mark Dixon will provide the play-by-play for the game with Evan Washburn adding color commentary.

Live stats will be available during the game through GoCrimson.com by clicking here. An on-demand video stream will also be available shortly after the game’s conclusion.

Last Time Out
Murphy Vandervelde recorded his first career hat trick as the Harvard men’s lacrosse team fell to Albany Tuesday night at Harvard Stadium, 16-7.

Vandervelde’s three scores led the way for Harvard as Alex White added a pair of goals. Peter Schwartz tallied one goal and a career-high three assists to finish with four points on the night.

Rick Molé won 12-of-21 face offs and collected five ground balls to help the Crimson hold a 14-of-27 edge at the X. Jason Gonos matched his career-high with three caused turnovers to go with two ground balls as Brian Fischer added a pair of caused turnovers and ground balls. Harry Krieger took the loss in goal with 11 saves in 52:49.

Related Video: Highlights: Men’s Lacrosse vs. Albany

Scouting Duke
The Blue Devils enter Saturday’s contest ranked 12th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and 10th in the USILA Coaches’ Poll. Duke began the year by dropping four of its first six contests but has rebounded with five straight wins to improve to 7-4 overall, 1-1 in the ACC.

Jordan Wolf boasts a team-high 45 points on the season with 29 goals and 16 assists. Five other Blue Devils have registered at least 20 points, including David Lawson (16g, 7a), Case Mattheis (13g, 9a), Jake Tripucka (9g, 13a), Josh Dionne (17g, 3a) and Josh Offit (15g, 5a). Kyle Turri has been in net for each victory during Duke’s current streak and sports a 5-0 record on the year with a 7.75 goals against average and a .553 save percentage. Brendan Fowler has taken nearly every face off for the Blue Devils in 2013 and has posted a .629 win percentage.

Inside the Series
Harvard trails Duke in the all-time series, 12-4, with the Crimson’s last victory coming in 2009. The Blue Devils took an 11-8 decision last season in Durham, N.C., despite an 11-save effort from Jake Gambitsky in goal.

Up Next
Harvard returns to Ivy League play next weekend as it hosts No. 3/3 Cornell at Harvard Stadium Saturday, April 6 at 1 p.m.

Freebie
Harvard athletics has announced that it will provide its live video stream free of charge when the Crimson men’s lacrosse team takes on No. 3/3 Cornell Saturday, April 6 at 1 p.m. The broadcast will feature multiple camera angles, replays, a new graphics package and a live scoreboard for fans watching at home.

Click here for more information on how you can watch the Crimson online.

Player of the Week
Goalkeeper Harry Krieger has earned a pair of player of the week honors this season, most recently receiving the award from the Ivy League on March 25. The senior turned away 28 shots while allowing just 11 goals as the Crimson defeated both Bryant and Dartmouth, finishing the week with a .718 save percentage and a 5.50 goals against average. Krieger was also named the NEILA Player of the Week on March 11 after recording 12 saves in Harvard’s 8-6 win over Georgetown.

Krieger entered the week ranked 15th in the NCAA with an 8.29 goals against average. His .564 save percentage leads the Ancient Eight while his 11.62 saves per game also pace the conference.

Streaking
The Crimson won two straight games and three of four between March 9 and March 23. Harvard last won three straight games in 2011 when it defeated Princeton, Yale and Penn to reach the Ivy League Tournament finals.

Young Gun
Freshman Devin Dwyer opened his career scoring in seven straight games for the Crimson, including a streak of five games in which he tallied multiple points. Dwyer currently leads the team with 21 points and 11 assists, while his 10 goals rank second.

Getting Defensive
Freshmen Robert Duvnjak has started seven games for the Crimson on defense and entered the week ranked 21st in the NCAA with 1.83 caused turnovers per game. Duvnjak made his collegiate debut against UMass and registered four caused turnovers, then added four more as Harvard defeated Georgetown.

Duvnjak’s 11 caused turnovers are four more than any other member of the Crimson while his 17 ground balls rank third on the team.

White Hot
Senior Alex White registered a hat trick in each of the Crimson’s first two games and he enters the weekend with a team-high 14 goals and ranked third overall on the squad with 17 points (14g, 3a) from the midfield. White entered the season with 31 career points (19g, 12a) after having played in 41 of Harvard’s 42 games over the previous three seasons.

Facing Off
Senior Rick Molé had a career day at the face off X against Brown, winning 15-of-20 draws while collecting four ground balls. Molé, who entered the year having taken just 32 face offs in his career, boasts a .536 winning percentage at the X this season and ranks fifth in the Ivy League.

Staying Grounded
Junior Gabriel Mendola set a career-high with 10 ground balls at Brown. He is the first Crimson to recorded double-digit ground balls since Keegan Michel did so on April 10 of last season with 10 against Quinnipiac.

Sharing the Wealth
15 different members of the Crimson have combined to score 67 goals this season. Alex White leads the way with 14 tallies on the year, while Devin Dwyer has added 10.

Home Field Advantage
Harvard is 14-6 at home under Chris Wojcik ’96, The Frisbie Family Head Coach for Harvard Men’s Lacrosse, including a 3-2 mark in 2013. The Crimson boasts a 6-4 mark in Harvard Stadium and an 8-2 record at Soldiers Field Lacrosse Stadium.

Hats Off

Name
Daniel Eipp
Ryan Stevens
Alex White
Devin Dwyer
Peter Schwartz
Murphy Vandervelde

2013 Hat Tricks


2
1
1
1

Career Hat Tricks
6
4
3
1
1
1

CLASS Act
Jason Gonos has been named as one of 20 candidates for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.

Gonos has anchored Harvard’s defensive unit for the last three years, but even more impressive than his play on the field has been his work within the community. In November, he organized the Crimson’s involvement in Lacrosse Mustache Madness which raised $6,979 for the HEADstrong Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the fight against blood cancer. Gonos has also spent time working with Happy Helpers for the Homeless in his home state of Maryland, helping to feed and clothe the homeless in Glen Burnie, Md.

To read Gonos’ full Senior CLASS Award bio, click here.

Related Video: Jason Gonos Named Candidate for Senior CLASS Award

In the Spotlight
The Crimson will play twice in front of a national television audience in 2013 beginning with its March 30 meeting with Duke. The game, which will be aired live on NBC Sports Network, will be played under the lights of Harvard Stadium at 7 p.m. The Crimson will also be featured on ESPNU when it takes the field at Princeton Friday, April 19 at 6 p.m.

Watch Live Online
Harvard has announced that for the first time ever, each of the Crimson’s nine home games will be available either through live or on-demand streaming. Eight of the nine will streamed live through GoCrimson.com while the Crimson’s nationally televised matchup with No. 13/14 Duke will be available for on-demand viewing shortly after its completion.

A full season pass can be purchased for $59.95 while single event subscriptions will be offered for $9.95. The full season pass will give fans access to each of the eight games streamed live as well as access to the on-demand archive for all nine home contests.

Posted in

Lacrosse Playground

In 2009, Adam O’Neill, Harry Alford and Thomas Alford launched Lacrosse Playground as the preeminent site for lacrosse gearheads. For years Lacrosse Playground provided lacrosse fans with tutorials and tips on how to string a lacrosse head, up-close looks at the gear the top players used and sneak peeks at equipment and uniforms before they were released. More than 10 years and millions of visits later, Lacrosse Playground has relaunched with a focus on storytelling. Our mission is to provide comprehensive coverage of the latest lacrosse news, share insights into the sports betting and fantasy lacrosse world and showcase the lifestyles and personalities of the sport of lacrosse through articles, videos and podcasts.

1 Comment

  1. jp on April 2, 2013 at 2:35 pm

    If you think people are going to view these videos just to read your sub par commentary your nuts. Thanks for ruining a half decent lacrosse page with your greed.

    JP

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.