Freshman Sarah Mleczko broke a 2-2 tie early in the second half Saturday and an inspired Radcliffe defense held Dartmouth at bay for the last 30 harrowing minutes to preserve a 3-2 victory for the Crimson field hockey team.

With the contest tied at 2-2 just after the intermission, forward Karen Linsley fired a bouncing pass across the goal mouth, where Mleczko batted at the ball in midair and deflected it past the Big Green netminder.

"It was just a beautiful, clutch shot in a desperate spot," Radcliffe captain Ann Dupuis said yesterday. Along with the goal she notched in the first half, the winning effort left Mleczko with 10 of the 17 tallies the team has totalled this season.

For Dupuis, fellow senior Linsley, and teammate Lucy Wood, the game finally settled a two-year-old vendetta. They are the only three players left over from the 1974 squad which was humiliated by the Big Green, 9-0.

Last year's Crimson squad was beaten almost as soundly, 3-0. "I went into the game concentrating on the fact that this was our last chance at Darmouth," Dupuis said yesterday.

Linsley was clearly just as motivated, playing what coach Debbie Field called one of her best games. "She played unbelievably well; I've never seen her like that. Karen was always there, wherever you looked. She played like two people," Dupuis added.

Jenny Stone and Mleczko had notched first-half goals to give the Crimson a 2-1 lead, but the home-standing Green had knotted the score in the final seconds before halftime.