After a mixed start to the season at Tropical 7s, Harvard returned to its home turf, Mignone Field, to compete for the Ivy 7s trophy. The Crimson’s A team dominated, earning a stellar undefeated record across the weekend and claiming first place.
The morning featured pool play with both Harvard’s A and B teams facing Brown, Princeton, and Dartmouth.
The A team first faced the Bears and took an early lead. Freshman Sana’a Lunon fended off multiple players from the halfway line to score the first try of the day. The rookie quickly followed her try with a shifty offload to set sophomore Josephine Mignone up to freely dash down the line.
The Crimson was not only dominant on the attacking end, but also on the defensive side. Freshman Gemma Ogoke swooped in as the Brown attacker neared the posts with a last-second try-saving dive to turn the ball over and prevent the Bears from scoring.
“Today was really a showing of not only our skill but our grit,” Ogoke said regarding the effort and desire on display across the day.
Tries continued to flow, with multiple others getting on the scoreboard, including Ogoke and senior Victoria Stanley. The Bears had little to offer after the scoreline was a confident 31-0.
Next, Harvard A faced off against Princeton’s A. Notably, junior captain Seta Pale returned to play after being sidelined the past season with an injury. Pale showed her prowess early, providing an assist to the first try of the game. Freshman Madelyn Hubbell conjured up a hat-trick inside the first seven minutes of the first half. She increased her total to four tries in the game during the second half, alongside a host of other tries from her teammates.
The relentless attack was exhausting for the Tigers, and they struggled to muster any offensive efforts of their own. The game ended 46-5.
The Harvard rugby team rushes the field after winning Ivy 7s. | By Jason Deng
“7s tournaments are always quite difficult when you have to play several games in one, and having to go up against such fierce competition is never easy,” Ogoke said while explaining the level of endurance needed to excel across the competition.
The final match-up for Harvard A saw the Crimson take on its biggest rival, Dartmouth. There was a sense of excitement from the Harvard players and supporters, and it quickly translated into a lead. Two quick consecutive tries put the Crimson ahead early.
Stanley accelerated through a gap in the Big Green defense out of a ruck for the first, and the second started with Stanley again. The senior drew defenders in and then offloaded the ball to Mignone for her to evade and bat off defenders all the way to the line.
In the second half, tries were scored by the freshman duo of Ogoke and Lunon to put Harvard in pole position going into the finals, defeating Dartmouth 22-5.
“More than anything, what carried us through was the drive to play for our seniors. It was their last time ever getting to play on Mignone, and we couldn’t let them leave with sour memories,” said Ogoke.
“Coming off a tournament last week where we were consolation champs, we all had a sense of revenge in our hearts because we know we could have done better, so this week we did. Forever proud to honor the shield,” she added.
Senior Tiahna Padilla evades the Big Green during the Ivy 7s Championship game. | By Jason Deng
The Crimson entered the Championship game in the afternoon against the same Big Green team it had beaten just hours earlier. Harvard continued where it left off, with Lunon brushing off defenders from inside her own half to put five points on the board. She replicated this try shortly after to double the lead of the Crimson.
The replication continued with seniors Lennox London and Tiahna Padilla driving into the try zone to ensure another victory against Dartmouth, with an identical final score as the previous matchup, 22-5.
This sealed a perfect 4-0 performance across the day and enabled Harvard to lift the 2026 Ivy 7s Championship.
The Crimson will now face one final test as it prepares to compete at the CRAA 7s National Championships, held in Indianapolis, Ind., from April 25-26.
—Staff writer Rhiannon Stewart can be reached at [email protected].