Justin Redd has never had much difficulty finding the back of the net against the Harvard Crimson. The men’s lacrosse team’s junior midfielder has scored twice in each of the past two meetings between the two teams, both of which were Cornell wins. Redd and his teammates will look to replicate that result tomorrow, as the Crimson (4-3, 0-1 Ivy) hosts Cornell (4-2, 1-1) on Jordan Field in Cambridge, Mass.
After the No. 16 Red dropped its first Ivy game of the season last Saturday at Penn, the team will be looking to rebound tomorrow, and move a game above .500 in conference play.
Needing a victory to even its own conference record, the Crimson enters tomorrow’s game after a 10-7 loss against No. 17 Denver its last time out. It was the first meeting between the two teams. With the loss, Harvard fell to 1-1 against ranked teams this season.
Ivy League rival Penn is the only opponent Cornell and Harvard have had in common thus far this season. The Quakers defeated both teams on their home field in the past two weeks. Penn beat the Crimson, 7-5, on March 27 before last week’s 10-8 come-from-behind victory over Cornell.
Going into tomorrow’s game, Cornell will face the challenge of containing Harvard’s high-scoring brothers, attacks Greg and Steve Cohen. Freshman Greg leads the Crimson with 16 points on six goals and 10 assists, while sophomore Steve leads the squad with 10 goals on the season.
Andrew Collins, however, leads the Ancient Eight with 17 assists, averaging 2.8 per game. The latter number is good for second in the country. The Red’s senior co-captain leads a potent Cornell attack, which also features junior Sean Greenhalgh and sophomore Joe Boulukos — two of the most dangerous goal scorers in the country.
Since the series between the two squads began in 1895, the Red has dominated the matchup, going 53-23. Cornell has won five straight games, a span going back to the 1999 season. Prior to this current run, Harvard had won five straight.
Unless something unexpected occurs, the game should be played in fairly comfortable weather conditions tomorrow. Highs are expected to reach the mid 50s. The forecast is for a mostly sunny sky, with a 10 percent chance of precipitation.
Keeping pace with the rest of the highly competitive conference will also be a top priority for the Crimson, as it plays its first conference home game of the season. Harvard is a perfect 3-0 thus far on Jordan Field this year, having won its home games by a combined score of 41-16.
Syracuse is up next for the Red, as the central New York powerhouses will clash on Schoellkopf Field on Tuesday afternoon. In the meanwhile, Cornell is concentrating only on Harvard, as it attempts to return to winning form before playing host to the rival Orange.
Archived article by Owen Bochner
Sun Sports Editor