SPORTS BRIEF: Men's Lacrosse Drops Ivy Opener

Four unanswered fourth-quarter goals propelled Brown to an 11-9 home win over the Harvard men's lacrosse team Saturday night in the teams' Ivy League opener.

The Crimson (2-3, 0-1 Ivy) led the Bears (4-1, 1-0 Ivy) throughout most of the contest, but an unassisted marker from senior attacker George Sherman pulled Brown ahead with 6:15 left in regulation. Sherman crashed the net into double coverage before launching a successful close-range shot between the pipes.

Harvard held a 19-5 advantage in face-offs, but key stops from Brown freshman Jack Kelly allowed the Bears to control the possession late. Kelly made five of his game-high 15 stops in the fourth quarter. Freshman attacker Henry Blynn, who led all scorers with two goals and three assists, tacked on an insurance marker with 1:44 left to seal the game for Brown.

The Crimson jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter with goals from junior attackmen Carl Zimmerman and Daniel Eipp and freshman attacker Sean McDonagh. Zimmerman (1 goal, 1 assist) drew the Crimson even with Brown after a goal from Tim Jacob provided the Bears' only lead of the game before the fourth quarter. McDonagh's goal came unassisted with 11 seconds left in the frame.

In the second, Brown outscored the Crimson, 4-2, in the first half of the frame to draw even with Harvard. But goals from freshman attacker Devin Dwyer (2 goals, 2 assists) and senior midfielder Alex White (2 goals) in the final four minutes of the period put the Crimson back in front, 7-5.

Harvard maintained the two-goal advantage through the third before Brown tied the game again with strikes from Blynn and sophomore attacker Nick Piroli (2 goals).

But Harvard responded with two goals in the final 1:05 of the quarter. Dwyer found the net while his team was a man up and Ryan Stevens (1 goal, 1 assist) scored with 19 ticks remaining before the whistle to put the Crimson up, 9-7.

Brown controlled the fourth quarter as Phil Pierce pulled the Bears within one early in the final frame. Minutes later, a cross-check from Harvard captain Jason Gonos put Brown on the man-advantage. Freshman attacker Kylor Bellistri converted off a centering feed from Blynn to draw even with the Crimson.

The Bears won the next faceoff to set up Sherman's go-ahead goal. Minutes later, Blynn struck from the right wing to give Brown some breathing room with less than two minutes remaining.

Two saves from Kelly in the game's final minute allowed Brown to kill off a 30-second pushing penalty.

?Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at mdledecky@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @mdledecky.

Source: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/3/17/harvard-mens-lacrosse-brown/

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