Big Green Edges Ruggers, 8-3; Wind, Injuries Aid Dartmouth

The Harvard Rugby Club hosted Dartmouth on Saturday in a game to determine the winner of the annual Charles River Cup, and the Big Green took the silver this time around, downing the Crimson, 8-3.

Harvard entered the game with a distinct disadvantage. In last weekend's Beanpot Tournament, team captain Peter Hilton's season ended prematurely thanks to a severe ankle sprain. But the real damage occurred in Wednesday's 24-9 loss to the Boston Rugby Club--ranked fourth in the nation--in which four regulars received serious injuries, keeping them out of Saturday's contest.

Stiff Wind

Dartmouth opened the scoring mid-way through the first half. With a stiff wind at their backs the visitors were able to keep play deep in Harvard's territory, where they finally capitalized on a two-on-one situation to score a try, giving them a 4-0 half-time lead.

The determining factor in the second period was Harvard's inability to take advantage of the wind as Dartmouth had done in the first half.

For most of the second stanza, the Big Green kept play around midfield, and with ten minutes gone in the half, Dartmouth's Curtis Oberg went 15 yards for a try, breaking two tackles along the way.

The Crimson's Will Chang tallied Harvard's points on a 30-yard penalty kick with three minutes remaining in the contest, and though Harvard was within a converted try of victory they couldn't break through Dartmouth's defense.

Harvard's B team faced the A squad of Queens College (from Kingston, Ontario) and not surprisingly the visitors romped, 32-3. The C team, playing against Dartmouth's B squad, suffered a similar mismatch and dropped a 14-0 decision.