Indians Take Down #6 Harvard

By Ben Flickinger | Monday, November 17, 2003

After starting the season 0-4, things were looking bleak for the Dartmouth football team, who haven't seen a winning record since 1997 and have only won six games the past three years combined.

Following wins over Holy Cross and Columbia, Dartmouth headed to Cambridge, Mass. with momentum and thoughts of a huge upset. And thanks to what will likely end up as the play of the year, Dartmouth left town with a 30-16 victory over previously unbeaten and 6th-ranked Harvard.

By following the stunning upset with another solid victory over Cornell this past Saturday, Dartmouth has gotten back to .500 at 4-4 and is tied for second in the Ivy League at 3-2 with Harvard and Yale. Penn remains on top at 5-0 with a chance to clinch the title this coming week against suddenly vulnerable Harvard.

With games at 3-5 Brown and 2-6 Princeton remaining on the schedule, Dartmouth stands a good chance of taking home second place—possibly outright—in the Ancient Eight with a 6-4 (5-2) record, a nearly unprecedented turnaround after finishing 3-7 (2-5) last year.

The Harvard game went back and forth for much of the first half, with each team scoring a touchdown and failing to convert the extra point in the first quarter, and then trading field goals in the second. But Casey Cramer '04 hauled in a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Charlie Rittgers '06 late in the quarter to give Dartmouth a 16-9 lead at the half.

Dartmouth struck again late in the third quarter when Chris Little '05 broke free on a 35-yard touchdown run to give Dartmouth a 23-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Things appeared in control for the Indians until Harvard got a 55-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the final quarter to cut the lead to 23-16. Then the wackiness started.

On 2nd and 10 from the Harvard 22-yard line, Rittgers scrambled to avoid a sack and ended up running into referee John Spencer and falling to the ground for an 18-yard loss. Then, on 3rd and 28 from the Harvard 40-yard line came the play now simply known as "The Catch" (with apologies to the San Francisco 49ers).

Rittgers threw a prayer over the middle into triple coverage. Somehow Andrew Hall '05 was able to leap up, stretch his left arm out and back, and, as he was surrounded by the Crimson legion, and make an impossible one-handed catch for a 38-yard gain on the 2-yard line. Rittgers would get the touchdown on the following play, and the defense held Harvard in check the rest of the game.

Dartmouth again used a stout defense and a workmanlike effort from the offense to earn a 26-17 win over Cornell this past weekend. In a game played before a season low 4,308 fans at Memorial Stadium on a cold and windy afternoon, Dartmouth took a 13-10 lead into the half and never looked back.

Rittgers threw 17-29 for 207 yards and four touchdowns, while Little rushed for sixty hard-earned yards on 25 carries. Cramer caught two of the touchdown passes, while Hall and Jay Barnard'04 each caught one apiece.

Hockey remains unbeaten after 3-point weekend

The Men's hockey team was looking to copy the football team and end a drought against Harvard. The Indians haven't beaten the Crimson on ice since February 2001, when they put a 7-0 pounding on Harvard; they have only managed an 0-5-1 record against Harvard since then.

Despite an absolutely raucous crowd of 4,500 crammed into sold out Thompson Arena, and several more braving the cold weather by watching through the windows, Dartmouth (2-0-1, 1-0-1 ECAC) only made two goals on Harvard's Dov Grumet-Morris and settled for a tie.

The Indians came out flying early in the game, and after forcing Harvard (1-1-1, 1-1-1 ECAC) to take two quick penalties, broke onto the scoreboard. Hugh Jessiman '06 tipped a shot from defenseman Grant Lewis '07 through Grumet-Morris' legs to give the home team a 1-0 lead. Dave Thompson '06 got an assist on the play. Both teams had several quality chances, but the game remained 1-0 heading into the second period.

Harvard dominated in the second, keeping the puck in Dartmouth's end for the majority of the period. Indeed, the Indians were lucky to be down only 2-1 at the start of the third. Dartmouth's best chance came when a shot by Nathan Szymanski '05 beat Grumet-Morris high, but the goal light never came on and it was immediately waved off after bouncing off the post and out.

Dartmouth tied the game early in the stanza when Mike Wheelihan '04 knocked home a rebound off a shot by Mike Turner '04. Dan Yacey '05 followed that by making several outstanding kick saves during a Harvard flurry. Yacey ended the night with 28 saves.

Dartmouth's best scoring chance late in the game came when Mike Ouellette '06 was sprung on a breakaway, but he was hacked down from behind before he could get off a shot. Referee Joel Dupree had already put his whistle in the pocket for the night and decided the infraction was not worthy of either a penalty shot or even a 2-minute minor—despite the protests from the crowd and Dartmouth's bench.

Overtime saw plenty of up and down action. Once again Dartmouth had a partial breakaway denied by a trip before a shot could be attempted, and, as before, Dupree failed to whistle the infraction.

The previous night against Brown, Dartmouth won 3-1 behind Lee Stempniak '05's hat trick and more outstanding goaltending from Yacey. Yacey had 23 saves while allowing just a single power play goal. Stempniak potted a goal in each period, the last being an empty-netter to seal the win, earn the hat trick, and send the crowd of 3967 into delirium.

Dartmouth begins a 2-month long road trip and the toughest portion of their schedule next weekend when they travel to New York's capital district to take on Union and RPI in ECAC action. The road trip also includes stops at #3 Boston College and #10 Boston U. over Thanksgiving Break, as well as #4 Maine in mid-December. The Indians will also face #2 New Hampshire on January 13th at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH. Tickets for that game went on sale November 10th at the Dartmouth ticket office.

Prior to the UNH game, Dartmouth will finally return to the friendly confines of Thompson Arena on January 2nd when they host travel partner Vermont.

Indians Take Down #6 Harvard

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