Brown Upset by Harvard in Ivy League Tournament Semifinals
Brown news release…
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Junior Dylan Molloy (Setauket, NY) and senior Kylor Bellistri (Potomac, MD) each recorded seven points, but top-seeded Brown University men’s lacrosse fell to No. 4 seed Harvard University, 13-12, in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals on Friday night at Stevenson-Pincince Field.
The Crimson (8-7) advanced to the tournament’s championship game on Sunday at noon (ESPNU) and will face No. 2 seed and No. 6/7-ranked Yale (12-2) for an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. The No. 2-ranked Bears (14-2) will await the NCAA selection show set for Sunday night at 9 p.m. (ESPNU).
Harvard’s Morgan Cheek tallied a game-high 10 points on an Ivy League record nine goals and one assist as the Crimson scored the second half’s first six goals to turn an 8-5 halftime deficit into an 11-8 fourth-quarter lead.
Brown senior goalie Jack Kelly (West Islip, NY) made 16 saves and became Brown’s all-time leader in career saves with 636 stops. Dick Alter ’66 held the previous record with 631 saves.
With five goals and two assists, Molloy pushed his single-season point total to 106, moving into ninth place in the NCAA record book and became the sixth player in NCAA history with 50 goals and 50 assists in a single season. His 237 career points now rank second at Brown and eighth all-time in the Ivy League record book.
Bellistri posted four goals and three assists to push his career point total to 161, moving into 10th place all-time at Brown.
Senior Henry Blynn (Villanova, PA) netted two goals, and senior Brendan Caputo (Westbury, NY) dished out three assists. Senior Will Gural (Haverford, PA) won 19-of-28 face-offs, and junior Larken Kemp (Greenwich, CT) picked up a game-high eight ground balls.
Harvard goalie Robert Shaw turned aside 15 shots in the win.
After Harvard scored the second half’s first six goals to pull ahead 11-8 with 13:10 remaining, Brown netted the game’s next two goals to cut the deficit to 11-9 with 8:28 to go. Bellistri posted both goals for the Bears on a pair of assists from Caputo. The Crimson responded with two goals to extend its lead to 13-10 with 4:05 to play.
Molloy sparked Brown’s second rally in the quarter, scoring back-to-back goals to trim the margin to 13-12 with 2:10 on the clock. He scored both his goals off Bellistri assists. Shaw made two saves inside of the final minute to help secure the Harvard win.
Molloy opened the game’s scoring off a feed from junior AJ Lucchese (Sudbury, MA) in front of the cage on a man-up goal just under four minutes into the game. After a goal from the Crimson’s Cheek, the Bears posted the opening period’s final two tallies. Senior Bailey Tills (Denver, CO) netted a goal, wrapping around the cage to his left, and Bellistri converted a pass from Molloy in front of the crease as Brown led 3-1 after one.
Despite goals from Molloy off a Bellistri assist and from Blynn off another Bellistri helper, Harvard tied the game at 5-5 with 6:03 to play in the half with Cheek closing the stretch with a 6-on-3 goal. Brown responded with a 3-0 run to close the half to bring an 8-5 edge into the locker room.
Bellistri started the streak with a goal off a Molloy feed in front of the cage. Molloy netted his third goal of the game, finishing through contact wrapping around the left of the cage, and Blynn capped the run with a straight-on, man-up goal from Caputo with just under a minute to go in the second quarter.
In the first half, Brown’s starting attack combined for 11 points as Molloy posted three goals and two assists for five points, Bellistri totaled four points on two goals and two assists, and Blynn added two goals. Kelly made seven saves in the opening 30 minutes while Gural won 11-of-15 face-offs. Harvard’s Cheek had three goals and an assist.
The Crimson scored all five of the third quarter’s goals, including four goals from Cheek to gain a 10-8 advantage heading into the fourth frame. Cheek netted a man-up goal 13 seconds into the second half, and he gave Harvard its first lead at 9-8 with 3:39 to play in the stanza. Cheek’s seventh goal of the game gave the visitors a 10-8 lead with 1:02 left in the third.
