The University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field has proven time and again to be a bad omen for Dartmouth, which has lost three straight games there, all by a margin of just one goal.
Harvard took to the field with ferocity after suffering a 14-7 defeat at the hands of the Big Green just one week before that prevented it from attaining a share of the regular season Ivy League Championship. The Crimson determinedly avenged its recent loss, marking the first time that Dartmouth had lost at the hands of Harvard's squad in 15 consecutive games.
Head coach Amy Patton said the Crimson exhibited inspired and composed play, while the Big Green remained flat throughout all four quarters.
"It was hard to come off of those big wins last weekend and stay mentally engaged for Harvard, especially because it was such a quick turnaround," co-captain Kat Collins '11 said.
Collins added that Harvard also tweaked its technique on the field, making it hard for Dartmouth to prepare.
"We knew they were going to throw a different game plan at us," she said. "They were the underdogs and had nothing to lose."
The Crimson's face-guard on Collins threw off Dartmouth's offense, which failed to make the necessary adjustments.
Although Dartmouth achieved a 22-13 shot advantage, Harvard's Kerry Clark recorded eight saves, effectively hindering the Big Green's efforts to score.
Harvard christened the scoreboard at the opening of the game, but Dartmouth responded with three unanswered goals one from Hana Bowers '13 off of a pass from Greta Meyers '11, one from Abigail Holden '11 to mark her first goal of the season and one from Kat Collins '11.
Harvard went on to capitalize on Dartmouth's careless ball handling, causing vital turnovers that led to two Crimson goals. The score was tied 3-3 with 15:21 on the half.
When the referee penalized Meyer with a yellow card and a three-minute penalty for a dangerous follow-through, she converted her frustration into determination. When Meyer was released onto the field again, she put away two unanswered goals within 28 seconds to give the Big Green a 5-3 lead.
Harvard managed to eke in one more before the half ended, cutting Dartmouth's lead to just one goal going into the second half.
During halftime, the team established two main objectives to disrupt Harvard's fast and athletic momentum on attack and to take more strategic shots.
By the 26:20 mark of the second half, the Big Green had already added two goals to its score one from Dana Brisbane '12 and one from Sarah Plumb '12, each off of a free position.
Harvard scored its first goal of the half to make the score 7-5 before each team traded goals, with Dartmouth's score coming off of another free position by Plumb.
Winning the next two draw controls was crucial for the Crimson, which, by translating both ball-possessions into goals, tied the game at 8-8.
Meyer capitalized on a free position to give Dartmouth the lead, but Harvard went onto win another draw control, again scoring and tying the game.
Collins said the Big Green was taken aback by Harvard's aggressive offense.
"They played to their strength their athleticism and were taking it to goal really hard," she said. "We weren't expecting that."
With just under five minutes left, Harvard's Danielle Tetreault found the back of the net, giving the Crimson the lead. Harvard used the momentum to not only stop Dartmouth's ensuing offensive attack, but also to put in a buffer goal. With just 2:41 on the clock, Harvard led by two.
At 2:10, Meyer converted on her fourth goal of the day to bring the Big Green to within one. Still, after gaining possession of the ball from the subsequent draw control, the Crimson used its speed and agility to play keepaway, eating the clock for nearly all of the remaining time.
Although Dartmouth won back possession with 10 seconds to go, it was not enough time for the team to get the ball downfield and into the net.
"It was just really hard to bounce back against a really energized team," Collins said.
Still, the Big Green will need to put this loss behind it when it hosts the Albany Great Danes this Sunday at 1 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
