With its back against the wall and all hope of qualifying for the NCAA tournament hanging in the balance, the No. 13 Dartmouth men's lacrosse team took to Scully-Fahey Field on Saturday for the last time in 2005.
Despite the win, the game proved to be the last of the season for the Big Green, as they found out late Sunday night that they had not been invited to the NCAA tournament.
The laxers courageously fought for 60 minutes with all they had, as their effort and talent carried them to a triumphant 10-7 victory over the archrival Harvard Crimson.
However, despite the clutch performance, the NCAA Tournament selection committee did reserve a spot for Dartmouth.
The Big Green ended a brilliant season at a solid 8-4 overall mark and tied with Princeton for second place in the Ancient Eight.
The road to the postseason was anything but easy for this year's squad, but clutch execution in do-or-die situations, like Saturday night, have kept the laxers from cleaning out their lockers before the playoffs begin next weekend.
Harvard traveled to Hanover hungry to avenge losses from the previous two meetings, including a setback two years ago at Scully-Fahey Field that gave Dartmouth its first Ivy League crown in over 40 years.
However, it was Dartmouth that came poised to defend its home turf, as the Big Green controlled the game's tempo from the outset.
After a few miscommunications and dropped passes, Dartmouth lit up the scoreboard first, with tri-captain middie Ben Grinnell '05 darting across the midfield into Harvard territory and finding an open Jamie Coffin '06 on the left perimeter. Coffin took aim and rifled a shot into the back of the net halfway through the opening stanza.
Grinnell then took the scoring duties into his own hands, finding an opening in the Harvard defense and charging his way towards the crease for a score at point-blank range.
Grinnell again found Coffin on a man-up opportunity and took advantage by feeding the Ivy League-leading scorer in front of the cage to open a commanding 3-0 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
On the strength of scores from Grinnell and middie Alec Hufnagel '06, who was coming off a career-high six-goal performance against Princeton, the Big Green and Crimson exchanged two goals apiece to run the score up to 5-2 with 6:32 left before halftime.
Harvard, though, would steal the momentum for the remainder of the first half, potting an additional two tallies to make the score 5-4 at intermission.
After the break, Dartmouth again cashed in on its scoring opportunities first, as Coffin bolted toward the cage and drew Harvard goalie Evan O'Donnell out of the crease, only to find an open Nick Bonacci '07 behind O'Donnell with a clear shot into the net. Bonacci accounted for both Dartmouth tallies in the third frame, single-handedly keeping the Big Green ahead by a goal heading into the final 15 minutes of Dartmouth's regular season.
With its entire season at stake, the Big Green came through in the clutch and played its best lacrosse of the game in the final period of play, out-shooting the visitors from Cambridge 13-4 and taking advantage of every man-up opportunity that came its way.
At the 6:49 mark of the fourth, hot-handed Hufnagel gave the Big Green another two-goal cushion by registering his second man-up marker of the contest.
Harvard again drew the score back to a one-point affair a minute and a half later, but the game's leading scorer, Grinnell, would find the back of the net for the third time on the evening, pushing the Dartmouth lead back to two with just over four minutes left in regulation.
Dartmouth rounded out the game with a late goal from Brad Heritage '06 as time was winding down to seal the Big Green's third straight win over the Crimson, 10-7.
Dartmouth's defense held strong down the stretch, as well, limiting Harvard's open looks at the cage and dominating the possession battle when it counted most.
"Everyone played their hearts out," said tri-captain longstick Pat Keeley '05. "It was the last game for the seniors on Scully-Fahey Field, and everyone brought the intensity that was needed to win the game."
Equally as intense was the rowdy, capacity crowd of over 2,000 that did its best to both heckle Harvard and cheer on Dartmouth.
Coffin, who happened to turn 21 years old on game day, credited the boisterous crowd as making a huge difference in the Big Green's Saturday night success.
"The fans were incredible tonight," he said. "They were what kept us going the whole game."
