The men’s lacrosse team (3-3, 0-1 Ivy) fell short against the Harvard Crimson (3-2, 1-0 Ivy) in a 16-15 overtime thriller at Stevenson-Pincince Field Saturday. Attacker Aidan McLane ’25 paced the team with seven goals, while attacker and midfielder Matteo Corsi ’25 recorded his first career hat-trick, but neither effort was enough to propel the Bears to a victory in their Ivy League conference opener.
“I’m proud of our team,” Head Coach Mike Daly said. “They showed a lot of fight. A lot of the young guys really stepped up into key roles.”
Harvard kicked off the scoring just 35 seconds into the first quarter, courtesy of a goal from Hayden Cheek, and quickly extended their lead to two with a goal by Nick Loring. Bruno’s offense fell flat for most of the first quarter, with McLane’s first goal of the day marking Brown’s first shot on goal nearly 10 minutes into the game.
Just when it seemed like the Bears could gain momentum, Harvard responded immediately with a goal from Sam King and took a 3-1 lead. McLane and Marcus Wertheim ’26 each tacked on a goal for Brown late in the first quarter to keep the game tied at three going into the second.
This was the theme for most of the game: Brown played catch-up and kept the game within reach while Harvard bent but refused to break. In 60 minutes of play, the Bears held a lead for less than two minutes but were never down by more than three.
“This is a team that embraces all challenges and we just kept grinding all game,” wrote attacker Trevor Glavin ’23 in an email to The Herald. “I’m proud of my teammates and proud of the way we competed for 60-plus minutes.”
The Crimson started the second with a hot hand, stringing together three consecutive goals to push the score to 6-3. But Bruno was unfazed, responding with three straight goals of their own to tie the game at six. McLane scored his third of the day; Glavin scored, assisted by a behind-the-back, no-look pass from Wertheim; and PJ Behan ’26 made his career-first goal.
In the half’s final two minutes, the Crimson extended their lead back to three after a pair of goals from King and a goal from Miles Botkiss with just six ticks left on the clock. The game entered halftime with the Crimson up 9-6, posting 17 shots on goal to Bruno’s nine.
McLane and Corsi led off the scoring in the third, cutting the Crimson’s lead to just one point. But Harvard would not back down and managed to keep the lead throughout the quarter despite allowing two more goals to Ryan Behrens ’25 and McLane, who had recorded five goals by the end of the quarter.
“We all have roles on the team, and Aidan’s is to score,” Daly said. “Aidan did his job and executed his role.”
Entering the fourth down 12-10, Bruno managed to tie the game at 12 thanks to Wells Bligh ’25, who scored his first goal of the season, and McLane, who secured a sock-trick — six goals total — around a minute into the fourth. Brown and Harvard later exchanged a pair of goals, leaving the game tied at 14 with a little less than three minutes remaining.
“We had great face-off play all game,” Glavin wrote. “The defense did a great job getting stops in the third quarter and we were able to score and make a run back at them.”
It was Corsi who came through in the clutch for the Bears, scoring both the game-tying goal at 14, and the go-ahead score with just over two minutes remaining, handing Bruno their first lead of the match. Both goals came in the span of a minute.
“Our first lead was that 15-14, so that’s a heck of a way to play a game down that whole way,” Daly said.
A victory seemed within reach for the Bears, who possessed the lead and the ball with under two minutes to play. But after a costly turnover, Harvard regained possession and scored with just 13 seconds to go, tying the game at 15 apiece and forcing overtime.
In overtime, Brown continued a second-half theme by winning the faceoff, despite face-off Matthew Gunty ’23 playing injured for most of the match. Gunty won 20 out of 27 faceoffs in total, including eight to Harvard’s one in the fourth.
“I just had good wing play, had guys rallying around me and just knew that my team needed a win, so I kept going,” Gunty said.
Despite having the ball first in overtime, the Bears struggled to convert. A turnover put the ball in the Crimson’s hands, and even with a gutsy save by goaltender Connor Theriault ’24 to regain possession, Bruno failed to score on four shot attempts and eventually turned the ball over again just as the shot clock expired.
After clearing the ball, Harvard called a time out to set up the game-winning play. The Crimson converted with 13 seconds left in overtime when King snuck a shot through Theriault’s legs to secure Harvard’s victory.
“I’m proud of our assistant coaches for having this team ready to play. I’m proud of our players for playing,” Daly said. “But in a one-goal game, that’s on the head coach to find that play.”
On Saturday, the Bears will look to bounce back on the road against University of Massachusetts at Amherst (4-3), a team they have not beaten in six years.
“We’re just going to do the fundamentals,” Gunty said. “Get back to work this week and beat our next opponent.”
