In the final on Sunday, the Big Green was looking good as they jumped out to a 14-3 lead early in the first half with tries from captain Tom Manzo '07 and Mike Markelz '07. However, the Harvard team fought back strongly and moved the ball quickly out to their backs, who found holes in the Dartmouth lines and burst through on their way to scoring two tries. Dartmouth fly-half Conlan O'Leary '09 kicked a successful penalty as the two sides went into halftime with the score level at 17.
The second half featured less scoring, but was played evenly as the two Ivy powers battled in the unrelenting rain and cold. Harvard struck first off a penalty conversion, but the Dartmouth men answered back, taking the lead as prop Kemper Pierce '08 powered through from a yard out for a try. Dartmouth's lead did not last long, as the Crimson soon scored a try of their own. With the Crimson up by three, Gordon Silvera '08 kicked a penalty conversion, which brought the teams level at 25. The squads remained deadlocked until the final whistle.
The match then stretched into two five-minute overtime periods. Dartmouth's best chance in extra time came when a Dartmouth maul was shockingly driven through the back of the Harvard try-zone, preventing the Dartmouth ruggers from touching down for the score. Harvard finally broke the deadlock with two minutes to go in the second extra period as the Harvard eightman hit a lengthy penalty kick that ended up being the difference, as the Dartmouth ruggers were unable to answer before time expired.
"Against Harvard we outplayed them for most of the match," eightman Josh Weinberg '07 said. "A few lapses in defense and some sloppy penalties allowed Harvard back into the game and that was a source of disappointment for the guys, but I think that everyone who played this weekend gave their all on the pitch."
In the quarterfinal game against Columbia, the team was led by captain Manzo and fullback Drew Jennings '08.
"[Manzo's] boyish good looks allowed him to sneak through for a first-half try," Pierce said.
Jennings had a try of his own as well as two penalty conversions, and the whole squad played extremely tight defense, shutting out Columbia 16-0.
In the semifinal, the squad faced Yale, a team that gave Dartmouth a tough match in the fall, but with the Ivy Cup final in sight, the Big Green again played stellar defense and moved on to the final with a 37-0 victory.
The Big Green jumped out to an 8-0 halftime lead after a try from co-captain Aziz Sayigh '07 and a penalty conversion from Jennings. In the second half, the offense came alive as Sayigh scored his second try while flanker Ian Wilson '08, prop Mike Sloan-Rossiter '08, Jennings, and fly-half O'Leary all found the try zone.
This season the Big Green squad saw numerous changes, losing a number of key players from last year's team, which reached the national Elite Eight.
"We played extremely well and we have come a long way from our matches in the fall and from our matches over spring break in South Africa," captain Manzo said. "It was a little disappointing not being able to pull off the victory and it would've been nice for the seniors to go out with a victory at Ivies, but in the end I'm really proud of these guys."
The club will be electing new officers this week and the team will play games over the next three weeks under this new regime as it looks to return to the Northeast Rugby Union Playoffs in the fall and the National Tournament next spring.
"With a large core of talented players returning we will be looking to return to the National Tournament and bring back the Ivy Cup to it's rightful home in Hanover," Pierce said.
Monday, All-Ivy selections were made public and the Big Green had five players recognized: Pierce, Manzo, Sayigh, Paul Huelskamp '06 and Pete Harris '07.
