Laxmen Defeat Dartmouth, 9-8

The Harvard men's lacrosse team found itself in its seventh one-goal game of the season on Saturday afternoon in Hanover, N.H. This time, its last game of a dismal season, it won.

With the score knotted at 8-8 in overtime, Crimson midfielder Ralph Vogel raced into the offensive zone and, drawing the Dartmouth defense towards him, fed Chip Linehan. The junior attacker collected the pass and fired a hard shot that bounced into the upper right corner of the cage which gave the Crimson a dramatic 9-8 victory.

The Crimson used its close-game experience to its advantage and notched its second victory in such contests. Moreover, Harvard snapped a somber seven-game losing streak and ended its season on a winning note, albeit against the perennial Ivy League doormat.

Harvard closed the season with a 3-10 record overall and tied Cornell for fifth in the Ivies with a 2-4 mark.

"We're so used to one-goal games and overtime that we were comfortable going in [to the extra session]," senior Tri-Captain Dan O'Sullivan said. "We were basically looking at the game in terms of a building block for those who are going to be here next year."

Harvard played the game without Tri-Captain and leading scorer Mick Cavouti, who sat out with a leg injury. Fellow captain Tim Reilly picked up much of the slack, tallying one goal and one assist, while sophomore Dave Chaney helped pace the offense.

Crimson netminder Chris Miller turned in a strong performance in the cage, recording a monstrous 25 saves in the winning effort.

Freshmen sensation Brendan Bowler sparkled for the Big Green, netting two goals and feeding three more, while Mike Pence pitched in two goals and an assist.

The Crimson struggled in the early going against Dartmouth's odd defensive style. The Big Green managed to shut off the Crimson attack, by isolating the man with the ball and forcing Harvard to charge the cage. But with Cavouti--an expert one-on-one attacker and skilled playmaker--missing, Harvard had trouble maintaining possession, turning the ball over repeatedly.

Despite the scrappy and aggressive Big Green defense, Harvard managed to keep control of the game, and took a 5-4 lead heading into the intermission.

"We were pretty slow in the beginning," midfielder Paul Faust said. "But we were feeling pretty strong going into halftime."

The two teams traded goals during the third session, and Harvard went up 7-5 off a Reilly goal 6:32 into the fourth quarter.

But the Big Green offense would not be contained. Behind Bowler, Dartmouth unleashed three goals in a three minute span, and took a 8-7 lead with four minutes left in the game.

Harvard climbed back two minutes later, however, when man-up specialist Derek Maguire sent a blistering shot by Dartmouth netminder Will Wynperle to knot the score at eight. Crimson, 9-8 in Hanover, N.H. Dartmouth  4-4-0--8 HARVARD  5-3-1--9

Goals: D--Brendan Bowler 2, Mike Pence 2, Tim McHugh 2, Tim Wennrich, Brian Heberling; H--Brian Connelly, Mike Porter, David Chaney, Stephen Buetow, Paul Faust, Pete Welch, Tim Reilly, Derek Maguire, Chip Linehan.

Assists: D--Bowler 3, Paul Appleton, Heberling, Pence; H--Welch, Reilly, Maguire.

Saves: D--Will Wynperle 19. H--Chris Miller 25

Goals: D--Brendan Bowler 2, Mike Pence 2, Tim McHugh 2, Tim Wennrich, Brian Heberling; H--Brian Connelly, Mike Porter, David Chaney, Stephen Buetow, Paul Faust, Pete Welch, Tim Reilly, Derek Maguire, Chip Linehan.

Assists: D--Bowler 3, Paul Appleton, Heberling, Pence; H--Welch, Reilly, Maguire.

Saves: D--Will Wynperle 19. H--Chris Miller 25