CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard women's rugby defeated Dartmouth by a score of 24-17 in the Ivy 7s Championship Game, successfully defending its title from 2019 at Mignone Field. Sofie Fella scored eight tries on the day to lead the Crimson, bookending the Championship game with a pair of tries.
 
Pool Game #1- Harvard 38, Princeton 5
Harvard began the day with a beautiful team try within the first twenty seconds against Princeton, touched down by Reese Morgan. Princeton answered with a try to cut it to a 7-5 Harvard lead, before Sofie Fella raced home for consecutive tries to make it a 19-5 game at the half. PK Vincze made her sevens debut for the Crimson, knocking in pair of conversions in the first half. Fella continued her scoring prowess in the second half with a try, before Sabrina Kim and Cassidy Bargell each touched down to give the Crimson a 38-8 victory. Chloe Headland notched four points with a pair of conversions in the second half.
 
Pool Game #2- Harvard 31, Brown 26
Harvard found itself playing from behind in game two against Brown. Kiani Akina answered an early Bears try to tie the game at seven following a conversion from Vincze. Reese Morgan touched down before the half as Vincze knocked in her second conversion of the game to give the Crimson a 14-12 lead at the half. Bargell extended the lead to begin the second half, but Brown would answer with a pair of tries and conversions to take a 26-21 lead. No stranger to comebacks, the Crimson tied the game at 26 through a try from Vincze as she took an offload from her own half from Sofia Hilger all the way in. After a defensive stop and with triple zeroes on the clock, Alex Pipkin would find Morgan for the game-winning try as Harvard claimed a 31-26 victory.
 
Pool Game #3- Dartmouth 22, Harvard 19
In the final pool play game of the day against Dartmouth, it was Fella again who could not be stopped, scoring a pair of tries in the first half. Vincze made good on both conversions and the Crimson went into the half with a 14-7 advantage. The Big Green would go on to score three tries in the second half, and a late try from Fella was not enough as the Crimson suffered its first sevens defeat of the season, 22-19.
 
Ivy 7s Championship Game- Harvard 24, Dartmouth 17
The Crimson had the opportunity to get immediate revenge on Dartmouth in the Championship game. Nafanua Malietoa Fitisemanu began to exact this revenge with a takeaway and offload to Fella, who scored the opening try less than two minutes into the contest. A couple of minutes later, it was Fitisemanu getting in on the act herself, racing home for a try to make it a 12-0 game followed by a good conversion from Vincze. About a minute later, Fella found Bargell at midfield where she would make multiple defenders miss on her way in for her third try of the day. The Crimson went into the half with a 17-7 advantage. Dartmouth battled back to make it a 17-12 contest with less than three minutes remaining, but Morgan and Fella would find themselves on a two-on-one, where Morgan made the ever-important offload to Fella, who raced home for her eighth try of the day to secure the Championship for the Crimson.

Harvard Highlights 

• Senior Sofie Fella scored eight tries on the day, including all three in the pool play contest against Dartmouth and two in the Championship.
• Senior Cassidy Bargell tabbed three tries in her spring debut, touching down against Princeton, Brown and against Dartmouth in the Championship game.
• First-year Reese Morgan tabbed a pair of tries in the comeback victory over Brown and had the opening score of the day against Princeton.
• First-year PK Vincze posted a try and nine conversions to total 23 points for the tournament.
• Harvard wins its fourth-ever Ivy 7s Championship after successfully defending its title from 2019.
• Harvard has won both of its sevens tournaments this season, previously claiming victory at Crimson 7s on April 2nd.

What's Next?
The Crimson will head to Atlanta, Ga., to compete in the USA Rugby Collegiate 7s Championships from May 14-15.