Harvard Men’s Lacrosse Races Past Hartford on the Road, 16-9

Watson Cheek tied his career high with two goals in a road win at Hartford (Photo Courtesy: Gil Talbot).

HARTFORD, Conn. – Harvard scored eight of the game's first nine goals en route to a 16-9 road win at Hartford in snowy conditions on Saturday morning. The win was the Crimson's first of the season after series of tough-luck losses and moved Harvard to 1-3 on the year.

Three underclassmen helped the Crimson take an early lead with sophomore Myles Hamm denting the scoreboard first less than five minutes into the game and first-year Nick Loring following suit, just over three minutes later. Hartford briefly stopped the Crimson momentum only to have sophomore Kyle Salvatore score his first goal of the season on an extra-man opportunity with 4:20 left in the frame. Junior Watson Cheek, meanwhile, added another to push the visitors to a 4-1 lead after one quarter.

Harvard kept the Hawks on their heels with relentless pressure and it proved fruitful as the Crimson scored four more times in the second period before Hartford was able to find the back of the net. Loring was responsible for half of the total and had a hat trick with more than five minutes left in the half. Junior Kyle Anderson and first-year Austin Madronic were the others to tickle the twine during what was a 6-0 run, spanning two quarters, to help Harvard to an 8-1 lead. Similar to the first period, Hartford stopped the onslaught of goals momentarily, but the Crimson answered with an Anderson and Cheek goal to take a 10-2 lead at halftime.

The Hawks (0-4) did not go quietly once the action resumed, scoring three goals in the first 6:14 of the third quarter, which surrounded Anderson's third goal of the game. Freshman Isaiah Dawson, however, scored his second goal of the season with 5:37 left to cap the scoring, providing a comfortable 12-5 cushion heading into the final 15 minutes.

It did not take long for Harvard to add to its lead as Madronic tallied his eighth goal of 2019, less than two minutes in. For the balance of the game, the teams traded goals, with Hamm, Madronic again and Charlie Olmert finding the goal column for the Crimson as it went on to win by a seven-goal margin.

Harvard Highlights

• Anderson, Madronic and Loring all recorded hat tricks. For Madronic, it was his second of the season, with Anderson and Loring hitting the three-goal mark for the first time this season. The hat trick was Anderson's seventh of his career, which leads all current Crimson players.
• The last time Harvard had three players record a hat trick in a single game was on March 20, 2018, when Anderson (7 goals), Morgan Cheek '18 (5 goals) and Joe Lang '18 (4 goals) accomplished the feat in a 19-18 overtime win over Boston University.
• The 16 goals were a season high for Harvard. On the flip side, the nine goals allowed were a season best for the Crimson.
• Kyle Mullin picked up the first win of his career and made eight saves in the process. James Swartz also saw action, logging one stop in 3:15 of action.
• Kyle Massimilian was credited with a team-best seven ground balls, erasing his old career high of two, which he accomplished twice before.
• Salvatore set a career high with four assists and five points.
• Watson Cheek tied his career high with two goals, as did Hamm. Anderson, meanwhile, matched his personal record with his two assists.

Next Up
Harvard is back in action on Saturday, March 9, when it plays host to Providence at Jordan Field. Game time is slated for 1 p.m., and will air on ESPN+