A persistent Dartmouth freshman team thwarted Harvard's high-powered offense and dealt the Yardling soccer team its first defeat of the season Friday afternoon on the Business School field. The 1-0 loss was coach Dana Getchell's first in three years.

After playing to a scoreless tie for three quarters. Dartmouth tallied on a hard, ten-yard shot by Bob Jordan with eight minutes left to play. The Yardlings came alive at this point, but several scoring opportunities were lost on bad passes and errant shots.

Getchell was disappointed after the game, but not overly concerned. "If you don't score yourself, you don't deserve to win. We just had a bad day, that's all. We didn't do anything right today, but we aren't going to change a thing next week," he said.

Neither team could assert itself in the first half. A moderate breeze had little effect on play, as both teams penetrated regularly when playing into the wind. The Yardlings were unable to control the middle for the first time this year due to the heights of Dartmouth's defensive backs.

Harvard went to its wings in the second half, and seemed more aggressive in the third period. But in the fourth quarter, before Dartmouth's goal, the offense stopped shooting altogether. Dartmouth had a goal called back early in the final period when an offsides penalty negated an arching 30-yard tally by Norm Shepiro.

Even this near miss did not arouse the Harvard offense, but the urgency of the situation became painfully apparent after Jordan scored the winning goal. By then it was too late, and the Dartmouth defense staved off a quasi-furious charge by the Yardlings in the final minutes.

The Harvard offense appeared almost lackadaisical at times, lacking the fire that it displayed in lopsided victories over Tufts. B. U. and M. I. T., and the determination that it showed in Wednesday's 4-0 win at Exeter.

The Crimson defense had to scrap to turn back the Dartmouth attack, but full-backs Adam Keller and Rick Scott made very few mistakes. Scott cleared the ball to his forwards time and again, but to no avail. Goalie Peter Aschaffenburg's performance was steady, and two diving third-quarter saves kept Harvard in the game.

The Yardlings have a tough week ahead of them, hosting upstart Andover Academy on Wednesday at the Business School field at 2:45 p. m. and traveling to the University of Connecticut on Saturday..