Mitchell headed back across goal to freshman striker Brian Rogers, whose header forced Garon Smith to make a good save to his right.

Later in the half, Garon Smith made another fine save to stop Crimson senior midfielder Adam Rousmaniere’s shot from a tight angle.

“In the first half, our guys played almost some of our best stuff—they moved the ball, they connected,” Harvard coach Jamie Clark said. “This is almost the best that we’ve played in a month.”

But despite its dominance, the Crimson couldn’t find a goal and went into the break tied. And after controlling the match’s first 45 minutes, Harvard was suddenly thrust into the back seat.

In the 50th minute, Penn hit the crossbar. Seven minutes later, the Quakers again came inches away from taking the lead.

Sophomore goalkeeper Austin Harms made a spectacular save, and Nyamekye followed with a last-ditch block on the rebound, to keep the score level.

“I thought [Nyamekye] was very, very good in the second half,” Clark said. “He really fought and worked for us.”

Harvard, led by co-captain Brian Grimm, soon regained its foothold. In the 60th minute, Grimm took possession of the ball in midfield before firing just wide. A minute later, he tried his luck again from afar but shot straight at the keeper.

After the Crimson finally broke the deadlock with Richard Smith’s 68th-minute goal, the team looked determined not to let the lead slip away.

Harvard remained on the attack for the remainder of the game, although it never managed to score a second goal. A couple of scrambles around the Penn box following Crimson set pieces would be the closest either team would come.

With the win, Harvard’s five seniors—Akpan, Grimm, Mitchell, Nyamekye, and Rousmaniere—claimed their second Ivy title.

“After winning that first year, it’s always the goal to win another one,” Grimm said. “It took a little longer than I hoped, but you couldn’t ask for a better end.”

“We had a phenomenal class and kind of changed the face of the program for the last three years,” Akpan said. “Hopefully we set the tone for years to come.”

—Staff writer Jay M. Cohen can be reached at jaycohen@fas.harvard.edu.