The Harvard men’s cross-country team’s hopes of a win over Yale and an undefeated Ivy dual record were dashed on Saturday by a metal flag pole that sliced open the bottom of senior Taylor Banks’ eye in the last half mile of the race.

The flag pole, which marks a major bend in the five-mile course, snapped back and cut Banks’ lower eyelid just as he and freshman Tim Galeback were putting in a surge to chase down a pack of three Yale runners.

“It was a just a freak occurence,” said sophomore Reed Bienvenu, who put in a strong kick at the end of the race to finish fifth. “[Taylor] fell back a little after that and finished the race bleeding.”

The Crimson lost 27-28, but Bienvenu doesn’t blame the flag-pole incident for Harvard’s one-point loss. The race could have gone either way from the gun, and any one of the Crimson runners could have stepped it up to nab the victory, he said.

Harvard was led once again by captain Matt Seidel, who finished second despite a strong effort to stick with the Bulldogs’ frontrunner.

“The Yale guy put on a strong move towards the end and I couldn’t go with him,” Seidel said. “I just need to get stronger as the season goes on, particularly in the middle and end of the race.”

Finishing behind Seidel to take third was senior John Traugott, who helped Bienvenu to attack Yale’s leading pack in the last mile. Gaelback finished eighth and Banks came through in 10th place.

The Crimson harriers face the Bulldogs two more times this season, including next Friday at the New England Chamionships.

While the men raced Yale right down to the finish line, the Harvard women’s cross-country team dropped to 0-3 in Ivy league competition with a last place finish in its tri-meet against Yale and Princeton.

Princeton took second with 41 points, while the Bulldogs took the victory on their 3.1-mile home course.

The Crimson women will also compete for the New England Championships on Friday at Franklin Park.

—Contributing writer Chris Schonberger can be reached by email at schonber@fas.harvard.edu.