“Their game is always really aggressive, especially in the midfield. They came out exceptionally aggressively and the refs were calling it,” Noon said.

As in previous weeks, a ray of Crimson offense peeped through the cloud, with Harvard generating an inchoate rally around halftime. Freshman attack Tara Schoen unleashed a noteworthy shot from free position with 6:07 left in the half to pull the Crimson back to 8-2.

Sophomore midfielder Margaret Yellot opened the second half with a goal from free position at 27:46, but Harvard’s momentum left them.

Dartmouth scored three more before the Crimson’s final mark.

When it came time for Harvard to seize the ball, the Crimson couldn’t often capitalize on the opportunity. Of the 19 draw control face-offs in the game, Dartmouth picked up all but six.

“We’re seeing game in and game out that our first half score every single game reflects the draw control. At the end of the first half, they’d gotten eight draws and we’d gotten two, and that was the score,” Sproul said.

Junior Kristen Demorest and sophomore Caitlyn Cahow split halves in goal, with Demorest blocking five shots in the first and Cahow two in the second.

“In the last two games, we’ve had some defensive letdowns, but this [game] was good for us in terms of communication and the ability to play one-on-one,” Noon said. “We can play against an offense that strong and going into Ivy League games against Columbia, Cornell, and Brown, it’s looking great for our defense.”

The Crimson plays its last home game on Saturday against Columbia at 1 p.m. before embarking on a three-game roadstand.

—Staff writer Samuel C. Scott can be reached at sscott@fas.harvard.edu.