Holy Cross Men's Lacrosse Falls to #15 Harvard, 14-9

WORCESTER, Mass. – Junior captain James Kennedy (Summit, N.J.) led the Crusaders with two goals and an assist for three points as the Holy Cross men's lacrosse team was defeated by No. 15 Harvard, 14-9, on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action in the Crusaders' home-opener at Holy Cross Field. With the loss, the Crusaders fall to 1-2 overall, while the Crimson improve to 2-0 overall.

The Crusaders were led by juniors Myles Gillespie (Rye, N.Y.) and Kennedy who each had a pair of goals. Senior Andrew Morici (Manhasset, N.Y.) recorded two points in the game with a goal and an assist.

Harvard was led by was led by Daniel Eipp and Jeff Cohen. Cohen scored five goals for five points while Eipp had three goals and three assists for six points.

Just 29 seconds into the game Harvard's Michel Keegan found the back of the net. A minute later Harvard scored again off a goal from Jeff Cohen. With 7:48 left on the clock in the first period Kennedy scored for the Crusaders off an assist from Morici. Gillespie then scored an unassisted goal at 6:12 to tie up the game 2-2. Harvard's Jack Walker netted a goal before freshman Terry McKenna (Summit, N.J.) scored his second goal of the season, to bring the game back to a tie at 3-3. Kennedy found the back of the net again for the Crusaders with 3:16 left in the first period off an assist by sophomore Kyle Kadlick (West Roxbury, Mass.). Harvard's Eipp scored again to end the first period 4-4.

To open up the second period Crusader sophomore John Daugherty (Stafford, Va.) had an unassisted goal. Gillespie had his second unassisted goal of the game at the 10:46 mark to bring the Crusaders' lead to 6-4. Harvard then scored three in a row to end the half at 7-6.

The third period saw five unanswered Harvard goals. The fourth period opened with Eipp scoring Harvard's ninth straight goal. The goal was on a man up opportunity. Crusader junior John Hannan (Manhasset, N.Y.) scored off an assist from junior Jack Curran (Verona, N.J) to make it a 13-7 contest. Harvard's Cohen scored again. The Crusaders then saw goals from junior Matt Ward (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Morici to end the game 9-14.

The Crusaders saw action in net from sophomores Kenny O'Connor (Latham, N.Y.) and Will Cummings (Summit, N.J.). O'Connor saw action for 56:27 and made 10 saves while Cummings was in net for 3:33. Harvard's Harry Kreiger earned the victory as he made eight saves. Holy Cross was outshot by Harvard 46-26. The Crimson picked up 32 ground balls and the Crusaders posted 31. Harvard won 14 of the 27 face-offs. The Crusaders went 0-2 on extra-man opportunities and the Crimson went 2-6.

The Crusaders return to action on Sunday, March 4, when they travel to Jacksonville, Fla., to take on Jacksonville at D. B. Milne Field at 3:30 p.m.