The nationally ranked No. 2 Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team heated up for a cold Amherst evening as it played host to Harvard. When all was said and done, the Minutemen (8-0, 1-0 CAA) emerged victorious, 16-8.

The Crimson (4-4, 2-0 Ivy League) had left Garber Field with victories in their previous two visits, and senior Art Kell hadn’t forgotten that.

“Last year we lost a tough one,” said Kell. “For me, personally, it was a letdown last year.”

It was the first game in 10 days for the Minutemen, but the rust didn’t show, if there was any.

“Sometimes when you take a long break you get rusty,” said Kell. “But I could tell guys came fired up for this one.”

Junior attackman Will Manny (five goals, two assists) struck five times, and Kell (four goals, one assist) slotted four past the Harvard goalkeeper Jake Gambitsky (eight saves). Anthony Biscardi (three goals) also recorded a hat trick under the lights.

“We’ve just been working on our shooting a lot,” said Manny. “We were able to get our shots, and get them on net, against one of the best freshman goalies in the nation.”

For UMass coach Greg Cannella, it was a matter of preparing to play a solid game of lacrosse, rather than matching up against Harvard.

“We just prepared for the game and played it,” said Cannella, noting the team strategy did not change.

The Minutemen started the game on the front foot with goals coming from Kell at 13:41 and Manny at 10:25.

Sophomore Daniel Eipp pulled one back for Harvard at 8:30 after backing into his defender, spinning off to break free, and firing past UMass goalie Tim McCormack. However, the Minutemen responded immediately with Biscardi powering a bullet past Gambitsky, and then Manny driving home his second after a sharp turn.

With just a second to go in the initial period, Kevin Vaughn found Jack Walker cutting through the middle, who bounced a shot past McCormack to cut the lead down to 4-2.

Will Walker brought the Crimson to within one after beating McCormack to open the second period, but that is the closest the game would be.

After Manny backed up a pair of errant Colin Fleming shots, the offense set up to find Biscardi who fired past Gambitsky. Then, Bobby Tyler bounced a shot in to double up Harvard 6-3.

Shortly thereafter, the Crimson goalie had his stick broken, but play continued. Cannella was visibly less than pleased with the referee’s opting not to call a penalty, but it did not deter the Minutemen.

Manny recovered a Fleming shot and fired past the goalie for his hat trick goal, and Kell followed soon after with his second of the game before going to halftime with an 8-4 lead.

After half, the UMass onslaught continued. Steve D’Amario joined the firing squad, then Kell capitalized on an extra-man opportunity at 9:00. Manny then struck with his fourth at 6:42. The Minutemen were strong in maintaining possessions, and the speed of the game pleased Cannella.

“We played fast [and] controlled the speed of the game,” said Cannella.

Harvard wouldn’t record a goal in the period until 4:31 left in the quarter when Alex White scored on the Crimson’s fifth extra-man opportunity, their first successful conversion.

Kyle Smith sandwiched a goal between the next Alex White strike, and the third-period of play concluded 12-6 in favor of the Minutemen.

The fourth quarter would be quite similar to the first three.

Manny collected his fifth of the game to open the scoring. Connor Mooney bounced his first goal of the season in soon after. After Kell fired his fourth, Anthony rounded off the scoring with his hat trick goal to extend the lead to 16-6.

Will Walker and Harvard’s top scorer Jeff Cohen would strike late, but it was not enough, as the Minutemen triumphed, 16-8. Cannella had pinpointed him as a threat and the UMass defense responded.

“He’s been scoring goals since the minute he stepped on campus for Harvard,” said Cannella. “He’s an obvious threat and needed to be contained.”

The Minutemen will now quickly turn their attentions to the weekend when they take on Saint Joseph’s, before continuing their conference schedule.

Jeffrey Okerman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Okerman.