As you have probably already heard by now, the Harvard women’s basketball team’s Hana Peljto made history on Friday night when she recorded her 2000th career point against Yale.

And though most people will say this milestone is a credit to her “skill,” “dedication” or “basketball smarts,” let’s be honest—we all know that we’re kidding ourselves. Peljto’s accomplishment is really due to a more obvious and self-described “obnoxious” source: senior Hunter Maats, male cheerleader.

“He never takes a play off from cheering, so there is absolutely no excuse for me to take one off from playing,” Peljto said. “For that, he has been instrumental to me getting to 2000. From ‘Peljtooooo!!!’ cheers to funky dances, he makes it simple—he inspires, and I just have to deliver. What can I say? I like the way he moves.”

Even members of the Harvard community who don’t necessarily go to all the games have noticed that Maats is more than just a passive being—he’s a force to be reckoned with.

“[Peljto] always says that his cheering is what helps her lead the team to victory,” said sophomore Jessica Jones—Maats’ girlfriend—who saw her first live game of the year on Saturday.

And for anyone who’s ever seen Maats on the sidelines of a basketball or football game, this ability to inspire doesn’t come as a shock.

Maats’ unique blend of high-stepping to midcourt, combined with his self-identification as “being the loudest and most insane guy” and what can only be loosely described as “dancing” when music comes over the PA system would certainly propel any Crimson baller to accomplish goals that he or she previously thought were impossible.

Just ask the football team, which has Maats and fellow male cheerleader junior Travis LaVoi to credit for its victory over Yale this year.

During the game, a Yale undergraduate leapt from the stands, grabbed the large Harvard flag, ran to his own student section and began to wave it in defiance of the Crimson cheering section. Maats and LaVoi came to the rescue, sprinting after him to reclaim the banner from the Bulldog horde—who did not exactly give the two a warm welcome.

“It was pretty intense—I had to fight pretty hard,” Maats said.

Of course, Maats’ efforts and willingness to risk bodily harm did not go unnoticed.

“’[Harvard football coach Tim] Murphy came up to us and said ‘You were the kids that went and got our flag back…Our boys really loved that, it really made the difference [between winning and losing],’” Maats said.

And while Murphy may have remembered the events a little bit differently, he certainly didn’t deny the impact that Maats had on the team.

“I told them that we saw it happening on the sideline and that we appreciated their effort,” Murphy said. “The Harvard-Yale game is competitive on many fronts.”

And it seems that this self-described “euro-brat,” former Undergraduate Council presidential candidate and cheerleader extraordinaire even encourages his fellow Harvardians on to greater efforts outside of sport arenas.