The big word coming out of the Harvard camp this season has been “resilience.”
The defending champions did not find the 2024 NIRA season easy, despite returning a large chunk of their championship team from 2023.
Instead, despite two high-margin wins, much of the first several weeks of the season was highlighted by nailbiters. A 20-20 tie with Quinnipiac, a 25-20 win over Sacred Heart, a win of 18-12 over Brown, and a 26-19 loss to Dartmouth.
All of those games were close and Harvard has learned much from that. That helped them get by Army in the semifinals 26-19. It might help them get by Dartmouth in the final.
“Having close games this year has been a reminder of how resilient we are as a team.,” said Harvard Head Coach Mel Denham T”hat brings a lot of confidence to the team in terms of knowing what we are capable of under pressure and in game changing moments.”
Dartmouth, for their part, have not had the same experience. The Big Green has been somewhat dominant this season, led by an excellent forward pack. But in the semifinals, things were a little different for them. Having beaten Brown 60-19 on November 2, Dartmouth found much more difficulty in the semifinal against Brown two weeks later. Final score 47-33, but Head Coach Katie Dowty wasn’t panicking.
