Brown 49 v. Harvard University 15 – First XV

Brown scored early and often in the first half to take a commanding lead after 40 minutes against a physically hard but somewhat vulnerable Harvard team. As opposed to Dartmouth the previous week, Brown was able to find space through the Harvard defense sending four Bears over the line for tries, with the dependable Jon Kim adding two conversions and a penalty kick. Brown opened the match with a penalty kick and then conceded a try to Harvard. But in the 12th minute of play, Brown drove into Harvard territory and #10 Jon Kim lofted a perfect kick ahead to wing Hudson Lee who caught the ball in full stride and touched down, which set the stage for Brown’s next 19 unanswered first half points.

In spite of Brown’s offensive output in the first half, the Bears were totally committed to the tackle on defense, shutting down Harvard’s impressive backline with solid tackles and some impressive counter rucks and poaches. The effort of all eight Brown forwards was impressive and decisive.

Brown had come to this match with several nagging injuries from the previous week’s Dartmouth match which left coach Laflamme with a thin bench in the event of further injury. However, Brown was up to the task as the first XV was intact after 80 minutes with the exception of an ankle sprain to flanker Will Zeller who was replaced by Chase Bekkerus who played a solid match the rest of the way.

The second half began with flashbacks to the 2018 Harvard match in which Brown took a big first half lead into the second half only to have Harvard come storming back to almost nip the Bears. Brown did concede two quick second half scores which brought Harvard within two converted tries of the lead, but the Bears scored three tries between the 65th and 80th minutes to comfortably win the match.

I occasionally select a man of the match, but on the day, this victory was the result of a total team effort.

Brown ends its regular season with but one loss to Dartmouth and now goes on to the Ivy Conference playoffs with the first stop at Columbia in two weeks. As soon as we have the details we will transmit them to everyone.  

Referee: Anna McMahan