Laxmen Take First Ivy League Win; Down Indians 10-9, in Sudden Death

Crimson attackman John Hagerty put a shot in the lower left-hand corner to give the varsity lacrosse team its first Ivy League victory, a 10-9 win over Dartmouth in sudden death.

Hagerty scored after taking a pass from Garth Ballantyne, who had carried the ball into Indian territory. Seconds earlier. Harvard goalie Rob Abbot had saved the game for the Crimson, blocking a tough shot when Dartmouth pressed after winning the first faceoff of sudden death play.

DiSesa Tallies

Harvard co-captain Verdi DiSesa brought the match into overtime, tallying at 5:20 of the final quarter to tie the score at 8-8. In the remaining minutes. DiSesa almost won the game with a shot which rebounded off the post.

Dartmouth's Scott Anderson collected his third goal at the start of the eight-minute overtime period, but Harvard came back to tie the Indians again as midfielder Dave Crawford passed to Rick Carey for the score with 3:26 left, taking the game into sudden death.

Dartmouth Rallies

It was a close fight throughout the match. Although Harvard opened up a three-goal lead in the first four minutes of play. Dartmouth scored twice before the end of the quarter.

At halftime the Crimson was ahead, 5-4. But in the third period, the Big Green took the lead for the first time, outscoring Harvard, 3-1. In the final quarter the Crimson rebounded with two goals to Dartmouth's one, tying the game.

DiSesa starred for Harvard, collecting four goals from his first midfield position. Hagerty and Steve Leahy each scored twice, while Steve Milliken and Rick Carey notched one spiece. Hagerty now leads the team with 31 points.

Abbot played the entire match, blocking 12 shots for the Crimson. The Dartmouth goalie, Mitch Whiteley, made 15 saves during regular game time and blocked seven shots in overtime and sudden death.

Harvard Dallies

As expected, the game was rough. "Had we approached it in usual Harvard-Dartmouth manner, we would have fought, and we might not have won." Hagerty said, "but we kept our heads and played a finesse game."

The victory marked a "turning point" in the season, according to Hagerty, although he said that the "turning point came a little late, with only one game left to play." Harvard, now 3-7. faces Yale next weekend.