The Harvard women's soccer team suffered a dramatic 3-1 loss to Dartmouth yesterday afternoon in Hanover, N.H.

The Crimson (6-3-1, 1-1-1 Ivy) is now winless in its last four games after opening the season with six consecutive victories.

And yesterday's loss substantially dimmed Harvard's once-bright Ivy championship prospects. "[Yesterday's loss] means we have to win the rest of our Ivy games to get a share of the title," Crimson Coach Bob Scalise said.

Only six minutes remained in the game when the Big Green broke a 1-1 tie. After a corner kick and scramble in front of the Harvard net, a Dartmouth shot deflected off a Crimson defender and past Harvard goalie Tracee Whitley.

"I'm certain that one of the Harvard people knocked it in," Big Green Coach B.J. O'Hara said. But Scalise said the Harvard players just couldn't stop the shot on goal.

"It was on its way in and we tried to get it out," Scalise said.

The Harvard coach said the partisan home crowd played a significant role in the outcome of the contest. The Big Green throng grew larger and louder in the second half after a JV football game ended nearby. "It made the game frantic," Scalise said. "Dartmouth got into a frenzy--we were a step behind."

The Crimson fell behind right at the start of the contest. At 4:41 of the first half Dartmouth forward Chris Gates scored the first of her two goals, but not without some controversy.

The Big Green's Jen Nichols fed Gates deep in Harvard territory, and Gates was virtually wide open for a low shot past Whitley. Scalise said the Crimson "stopped playing" because it anticipated an offsides call.

Harvard struggled back into the game, though, dominating the rest of the first half and forcing a 1-1 tie with a Lori Barry goal at 39:58.

But the momentum shifted Dartmouth's way in the second stanza, and the Big Green got the game-winner.

Trailing by one, Harvard packed into the Dartmouth zone in a last-minute effort to send the game into overtime--but Gates managed a breakaway goal to insure Dartmouth's victory with 30 seconds left.