PHILADELPHIA – The 16th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team hosted No. 4 Harvard on Saturday at Franklin Field and the visitors claimed a 12-9 victory at the final whistle. Penn fell to 3-4 with Saturday's result and the visitors moved to 6-0. The matchup was the Ivy League opener for both teams.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Nate Lucchesi paced the Quakers on offense with two goals and an assist for three points.
 
*Upperclassmen Griffin Scane and Ben Beacham both found the back of the net twice in Saturday's defeat.
 
*Jack Pelot made eight stops between the pipes, while causing a turnover and scooping up a ground ball.
 
*Davis Provost (1), Jackson Maher (1) and Grayson McClements (1) rounded out the Red and Blue's goalscorers.
 
*Faceoff specialist Quinn Ball won a career-high 16 duels and secured a game-high nine ground balls.
 
How It Happened
Penn was first to put points on the board, when Beacham found the back of the net for the first time at the 13:54 mark. Harvard only needed 44 seconds to respond, tying the contest at one apiece thanks to a goal from Logan Ip.
 
After six scoreless minutes, the Crimson took a 2-1 lead when Ip found Teddy Malone with 7:47 to go. Malone scored again just over a minute later and Jack Petersen made it a 4-1 contest at the 5:02 mark. John Aurandt IV fired home another goal for Harvard with 2:55 remaining in the quarter, but Penn reduced its deficit to three goals (5-2) when Scane scored his first of the day with three seconds to go in the quarter.
 
Both sides notched two goals in the second period. Lucchesi got Penn off to a hot start with his first goal of the day at the 14-minute mark, followed by a score from Scane seven minutes later which was assisted by Provost.
 
The visitors reclaimed a 7-4 advantage heading into halftime courtesy of back-to-back goals from Andrew Perry and Malone.
 
Harvard opened the scoring in the second half when Francisco Cortes rifled home his first of the day with 11:19 on the clock. The Quakers responded 40 seconds later through Lucchesi with Maher on the dish to bring the hosts within three goals (8-5). Matt Barraco netted his first goal of the day with 8:41 to go, but Penn quickly cut the deficit back to three goals thanks to Provost's score with 7:10 remaining.
 
Malone tacked on another score for the Crimson with 6:06 to play, but the hosts had the last laugh of the quarter when Beacham and Maher both found the back of the net. With 15 minutes to go at Franklin Field, Harvard maintained a narrow 10-8 lead.
 
The final quarter of play provided spectators with just three goals. The first seven minutes were scoreless, but Aurandt IV ended the drought with back-to-back goals to hand the Crimson a 12-8 lead. McClements tacked on Penn's ninth goal of the day at the 2:55 mark.
 
Harvard managed the clock well down the stretch to earn its sixth win of the season and first in Ivy League play.
 
Up Next
Penn continues Ivy League play next Saturday, traveling to New Haven to face Yale. Faceoff is scheduled for noon at Reese Stadium.
 
For the latest on Penn men's lacrosse, follow @PennMensLax on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.