The men’s rugby team destroyed Harvard University 52-3 at Scully-Fahey Field on Saturday to win the Ivy League 15s championship for the seventh year in a row.
Coming off a training trip to California where the team was blown out by the University of California at Berkeley 99-7 and fell to California Polytechnic Institute 7-5, the Ivy 15s tournament was a welcome chance for the Big Green to rebound going into its spring season.
“When you look at the score, it might not seem as if the training trip was a success, but that was our first opportunity to play at full strength since a lot of our members were off campus in the winter,” John Descalzi ’14 said. “It prepared us well to succeed in the Ivy League.”
On March 30, the Dartmouth men shut out the University of Pennsylvania 38-0 to set up the date with Harvard, who beat Cornell University in its semifinal match. The team jumped out to a 33-0 halftime lead before cruising to the 38-0 full-time score. Kevin Clark ’14 starred for the Big Green, scoring three tries.
“We’re our own worst enemies on the field,” Descalzi said. “Against Penn, everyone was excited to be back on campus playing at home, so a lot of people were trying to be the superhero and do things themselves. In training, we focused on playing as a unit and not taking penalties, and it showed against Harvard on the scoreboard.”
Against Harvard in the semi-final, the Dartmouth men scored early and often. Just eight minutes into the contest, Neil Greene ’14 passed the ball to Clark, who dove in for the try. Madison Hughes ’15 drilled the conversion to put the Big Green up 7-0.
Hughes, who also plays for the U.S. National 7s team, had a strong presence on the field, directing the offense, which allowed the team to put forward a consistent and cohesive attack, Descalzi said.
Clark would cross the try line two more times in the first 20 minutes of the game to stretch the lead to 19-0. Harvard pushed to get back into the game, but the Big Green defense stood tall and denied the Crimson the try.
At the 33 minute mark, Clark scored his fourth try, and Hughes converted to push the lead to 26-0. Just five minutes later, Ryan Galloway ’15 broke through the Crimson line and offloaded to Wil Chockley ’15 for the try. Hughes again knocked it through to push the Big Green lead to 33-0 at the half.
Robbie Anthony ’14 scored just seven minutes into the second half thanks to some pretty passing by the Dartmouth offense. After the team stretched its lead to 45-0, it brought in four reserves. The Dartmouth men pushed the lead to 52-0 before Harvard kicked for points. The Crimson did not get on the board until the final 15 minutes of the game.
The team now turns to the Varsity Cup, which serves as the 15s national championship. The team faces Clemson University April 12 for the right to play perennial powerhouse Brigham Young University in the super regional.
The game against Clemson will be tough, Hughes said.
“We need to work on our systems and tweak those little things that could have a big impact on game day,” he said.
