With the win, Dartmouth (10-2, 5-1 Ivy) secured a bid to the Ivy League tournament and racked up 10 wins in a single season, something that hasn't been done since the current seniors joined the program.
"This feeling of accomplishment made us cherish what we are doing, but we can always be better," co-captain Eliza Bennett '10 said.
The team improved on its draw controls from the Penn game, giving the team more possessions and offensive opportunities.
The Big Green went on a 7-1 run spanning the end of the first half and the beginning of the second that proved crucial to the victory.
Sarah Parks '12 contributed a hat trick to the victory, while Kirsten Goldberg '12 and Hana Bowers '13 each added two goals. Dana Brisbane '12, Hilary Smith '12, Sarah Plumb '12 and Greta Meyer '11 chipped in one apiece.
Julie Wadland '10 racked up five saves, turning in an important second-half performance.
Dartmouth, true to form, set the tone early on. Its first score came two minutes into the first half when Courtney Bennett '13 fed an open Brisbane, who seemlessly guided the ball into the back of the Crimson net.
Harvard responded with a two-goal spurt. Goals by Danielle Tetreault and Nina Kucharczyk gave the Crimson a one-goal advantage at 25:02.
Smith countered with a Dartmouth score, but the Crimson regained the lead when Melanie Baskind won the next draw and converted it into a goal.
At 19:39, Parks tied the game again after scoring from a difficult angle.
After another 2-0 Harvard run, the Crimson boasted a 5-3 lead.
This prompted a time-out, during which head coach Amy Patton changed strategies and re-focused the team. This prompted the team's 7-1 run.
"We changed some things on attack and figured out how to work better together," Bennett said.
To begin the run, Goldberg scored on a rebound off of her own saved shot. Next, Plumb dodged her defender to score from a tough angle. At 5:40, Goldberg capitalized on a free position before a score by Parks brought the score to 7-5.
Harvard's Michaela Cyr managed to squeeze one goal in for her team before the halftime whistle blew lowering the Big Green's lead to one.
When the second half started, Dartmouth showed that it was not about to let down.
"We got our groove back," Bennett said. "We kept winning the draw and the defense came up with some really big stops."
A clutch save by Wadland sparked a subsequent 3-0 run for Dartmouth.
Just a minute after Bowers scored from a free position, Goldberg fed Parks' third goal of the day. Shortly thereafter, Kelsey Johnson '13 ran downfield to feed an open Meyer, whose score gave Dartmouth a 10-6 lead.
Worried that its lead would fall apart, the Big Green began to play tight, allowing Harvard to rally for a run of its own.
"Sometimes you get ahead and then get worried it's going to slip away," Bennett said.
The quick and athletic Crimson managed to score three unanswered goals within the next 10 minutes, bringing Harvard within a single goal with 7:30 on the clock.
Still, Dartmouth's 7-1 stretch gave it enough security to negate the Harvard run before it became destructive.
"We forced opportunities on attack that we didn't need to, but we recovered well," Bennett said.
After five minutes of running down the clock, Parks found Bowers for a much-needed buffer goal before the Big Green maintained possession for the remainder of the game.
On Sunday, Dartmouth will travel to Princeton University for the last of its regular-season Ivy League matchups. Bennett said the Big Green will come out with fire, ready to take Princeton seriously despite the fact that the Tigers have done poorly this season.
"We'll be excited to play them and to send another message to the Ivy League that we're ready for the tournament," she said.
