Two weeks ago, the Harvard Rugby Football Club had its toughest weekend in years, playing nationally-ranked Army and Eastern power Boston College on back-to-back days.

And there was no let up in the ruggers' schedule this past weekend, either, as Harvard fell to nationally-ranked Dartmouth, 23-6, at Soldiers Field in front of several hundred spectators.

Despite the loss, the Crimson got a chance to see the nation's number-three team--a squad it could very well meet in the finals of the New England championships next weekend.

Seeded number two behind Dartmouth, Harvard (now 5-2) will meet seventh-ranked Northeastern in the first of two preliminary rounds on Saturday. The finals are Sunday.

Saturday, Dartmouth was able to take advantage of Harvard mistakes, as the Crimson allowed a season-high 23 points.

"It was more frustrating than anything," senior Richard Butcher said. "We weren't getting beat by them, but by our own mistakes."

The Crimson did hold an early 3-0 advantage on Nathan Koenig's 14th penalty kick of the season. But the good fortune was short-lived, as Dartmouth retaliated with a try five minutes later to take a 4-3 lead.

For the next 30 minutes, Harvard pressured the Big Green goal line several times, but came away frustrated each time.

And after holding off the Crimson threats for several minutes, Dartmouth advanced the ball upfield and scored easily off a broken play to go up 10-3.

"That really took a lot out of us," Harvard Coach Martyn Kingston said. "We pressured their goal line about 12 different occasions, while they only pressured us about five or six times, but scored on half of them."

The two teams traded penalty kicks early in the second half to push the score to 13-6, but Dartmouth put the game out of reach with two unanswered trys in the final 10 minutes.

"Basically, it was like a dress rehearsal for us," Kingston said. "We can play these big games and get over our nervousness for the weekend when it really counts."

The "B"-side (now 7-1) defeated Dartmouth, 16-4, while the "C"-side drew the Green, 6-6.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard has outscored its opponents, 117-70, this year....The Crimson's 5-2 start is its best since 1984, the same year the team won the national (not to be confused with NCAA) championship....Harvard is the favorite in the Northeastern contest. Last year, the Crimson hounded the Huskies, 12-0, in the first round of the Beanpot Tournament.