Field Hockey
The Harvard Field hockey team clinched its fifth Ivy League title in their 6-0 victory over Dartmouth, keeping their Ivy League record at 6 wins and 0 losses. This ensures their spot in the NCAA tournament; the team is 15 and 1 on the year and will play their final game of the season against Columbia.
Dartmouth was outpaced from the very beginning as it did not take long for the Crimson to get on the board. Casey Allen made a fantastic effort off a rebounded penalty corner. Not long after, Maddie Earle made another great goal off the assist from Hannah Pearce.
Heading into the second half, Harvard’s defense did not allow for the Big Green offense to do much work. Dartmouth had a total of 2 shots in total which let the Harvard offense to put in another 4 goals by Casey Allen, Olivia Allin, Maddie Earle, and Bente van Vlijmen respectively. That is not to detract from goalkeeper Ellie Shahbo who has allowed only three goals over the past 7 games she has started.
The Harvard Crimson have now defeated 21 of their last 22 Ivy League opponents and are getting ready for Columbia, 12 noon on Saturday November 3rd. The event will be held at Berylson Field.
Football
This past Saturday the Harvard Crimson football team travelled to Memorial Field, going head to head against the first place Dartmouth team. After a late comeback from Harvard in last year’s brawl, Dartmouth was focusing on making fewer defensive mistakes that cost them a 25-22 loss.
Fortunately for Dartmouth, their defense made the difference with a 62 yard fumble recovery TD by D. J. Terry in the first quarter. The Big Green would go up 21 to 0 by the end of the first half after another TD by quarterback Jared Gerbino, his second of the day. Dartmouth put the ball in the air only 11 times, opting to keep the ball on the ground, which is their strong suit.
Harvard only started to answer with seven minutes left in the third – Sophomore Aaron Shamplkin came through to put the team on the board and was followed by quarterback Tom Stewart and kicker Jake McIntyre’s efforts to put Harvard within a touchdown. Unfortunately for Harvard, the Big Green had time on their side and kept their record clean of a loss.
Stewart completed 24 of 42 passes on the day for a total of 270 yards. Harvard ran for an additional 76 yards on 11 carries including Stewart’s rushing TD late in the fourth. All in all, despite the advantage in total yards and first downs, the four Harvard turnovers killed the momentum.
Harvard (3-4, 1-3) will play at home versus Columbia (4-3, 1-3) on November 3rd.
Men’s Water Polo
The men’s Harvard water polo team took on two opponents this weekend, facing Iona and St. Francis, taking home two wins and extending their win-streak to four. The team is 11 – 4 on the year and are ranked 10 in the nation, with its only losses coming against strong opponents.
Harvard is two games away from playing in the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NEWPC) starting on November 16th. The Crimson, despite not qualifying for an NCAA tournament in the previous four decades, has been to the last two men’s national champions, taking home first place last year.
Their biggest competitors in the NEWPC, namely St. Francis, Princeton, and Brown have proven to be difficult. However, that is not to say they have slowed the Crimson down. Despite the 11-9 loss against Brown, Harvard is 4 of 5 in matchups against these opponents on the year and have made a strong argument for their position as strongest in the East. The talent of Coach Minnis has pushed Harvard to championships even when they were not the top team in their conference; now that they are seated high, the NEWPC will present an exciting slate of matchups.
Harvard will play for revenge against Brown on November 3rd (away game) and then at MIT the next day. After a two week break they will play for it all at the NEWPC championships in Providence, Rhode Island.
Graham Walter ’21 (grahamwalter@college.harvard.edu) looks forward to another exciting slate of events