No. 16 Cornell (5-2, 2-1 Ivy) avoided an upset Saturday afternoon after coming from behind to deny Harvard (4-4, 0-2) on the Cantabs’ home turf. Meanwhile, Dartmouth (6-2,1-0) won its Ivy opener against the University of Pennsylvania (5-4, 2-2) and took a share of the No. 1 spot in the Ancient Eight. That same evening, No. 6 Princeton (5-2, 1-0) won its 15th consecutive match against Garden State rivals No. 14 Rutgers.

Cornell 9, Harvard 8, OT

Big Red midfielder Justin Redd assisted on each of the final three goals of the game to lead Cornell in a thrilling comeback victory in overtime at Jordan Field.

The Crimson held on to a formidable 8-6 lead throughout most of the fourth quarter until Redd found midfielder Mike Riordan above the crease for a goal with 3:43 left in regulation.

Harvard reclaimed possession on the ensuing face-off, but passed up two good opportunities to score in order to run the clock down. One of the Crimson players stepped out of bounds, forcing a turnover that would cost the team in the long run.

Redd took charge again after taking possession and dished off to midfielder Joe Boulukos who then scored from 15 yards on the left wing to tie the game 8-8 with 54 seconds remaining.

Cornell won the next face-off but could not convert the goal before regulation expired.

The Cantabs started the extra period with the ball but failed to score within the first minute of overtime. Cornell defenseman Tim DeBlois recovered the loose ball and handed it to Redd, who was headed toward the goal. Initially moving in to score, Redd instead snapped the ball to midfielder Brian Clayton, who sent a 20-yard shot off Crimson goalie Jake McKenna’s stick and into the top right corner of the net to end the game.

Both teams exchanged goals four consecutive times to begin the contest, with Cornell scoring the first and taking the lead four times only to have Harvard answer back.

The Cantabs began to break away at the start of the third quarter on a goal from attacker Sean Kane’s that triggered a 3-0 Crimson run.

Cornell midfielder Doug Needham brought the Big Red back within one at the start of the fourth, but Harvard midfielder Jake Samuelson hit a high shot past Big Red goalie Matt McMonagle to hold the two-point lead at 7-5.

The teams exchanged goals before Cornell triggered the game-tying rally.

With two goals and three assists, Redd scored a game-high five points followed by Boulukos and Needham, who each had two goals.

Kane led the Cantabs with three goals, while Samuelson and attacker Mike McBride each chipped in two for Harvard.

Dartmouth 9, Penn 4

The Big Green scored five goals in the second half to surge past the Quakers Saturday afternoon to win its six consecutive game at Scully-Fahey Field.

With the game tied 3-3 at the end of the first quarter, Dartmouth midfielder Ben Grinnell scored the only goal in the second quarter to give the home team a 4-3 advantage at halftime.

Big Green attacker Jamie Coffin hit the first of his three goals for the day after a minute and a half into the third quarter. A minute later, Coffin followed up with an assist to attacker Alec Hufnagel, who scored to give his team a 6-3 lead entering the final period.

Midfielder D.J. Andrzejewski finally ended Dartmouth’s 4-0 run, extending from the first quarter, to make it a two point game 6-4 with 9:30 remaining.

But the Quakers failed to score for the rest of the contest.

Meanwhile, Coffin scored his second and third goals back-to-back in the final three minutes of the match to give Dartmouth an 8-4 lead.

With 1:08 left to play, midfielder Tom Daniels put the icing on the cake with another Dartmouth goal to finish 9-4.

Big Green goalie Andrew Goldstein finished the day with 10 saves, while Ryan Kelly made 11 saves for Penn.

Coffin led the game with three assists and three goals.

Princeton 9, Rutgers 7

Attacker Ryan Boyle led the Tigers to their 15th straight Meistrell Cup victory against Rutgers Saturday afternoon at the Class of 1952 Stadium.

The Scarlet Knights took a 4-3 lead into halftime. But Boyle opened the second half on a tear, scoring a goal and notching two of his four assists of the afternoon to head a Princeton 5-0 run that completely demolished the Rutgers’ advantage.

The Tigers came out strong with a 3-0 lead to open the contest before Rutgers took over the remaining 18:02 of the first half. Rutgers capped off a first-half 4-0 run on attacker Tim White’s goal 11 seconds before halftime to give the Scarlet Knights a 4-3 advantage.

On the ensuing face-off, Boyle retrieved the ball but was dragged down with one second remaining. The referees called a penalty, which gave Princeton the possession and the man-advantage to start the third quarter. Boyle made it count, setting up midfielder Eric Kudla for his first goal of the year to tie the game at 4-4.

Kudla’s goal triggered the Tigers’ 5-0 run that gave Princeton an insurmountable 8-4 lead. Boyle also set up attacker Peter Trombino for a goal during the run and capped the rally with an unassisted goal of his own.

Rutgers would get within two twice, but could not get any closer.

Boyle’s five-point day moved him into fourth place all-time in scoring at Princeton with 194 points (56 goals, 138 assists). Boyle’s assist total is second all-time at Princeton.

Princeton dominated the face-offs for the game, winning 12 out of 19. And the Tiger defense held the Scarlet Knights to just 15 shot attempts for the entire game.