Ledyard — With a stubborn opponent refusing to fade, Yale dug deep for something extra near the end of an exhausting four-mile race on Saturday.

Coxswain Grant Louis offered some encouragement.

"Be the breaker, not the broken," Louis told his teammates. "We just put the hammer down."

A Yale surge around the half mile mark finally shook Harvard in the 152nd Harvard-Yale Regatta on the upstream course on the Thames River. The winning margin was just over four seconds in the closest race since 2007.

"I was anticipating a really close finish," Yale senior Nate Goodman said. "With a half mile to go, they finally ran out of gas. That last half-mile was a lot of relief and a lot of pain, but we held our nerve just a couple minutes longer than they did."

Yale's winning time was 18 minutes, 56.1 seconds while Harvard crossed the finish line in Bartlett's Cove in 19:01.4.

"It was a terrific race, no question about it at all," Yale coach Steve Gladstone said. "If you look at the record books, a race that close is really rare. Over four miles, very rare."

It's the first time that Yale has won two straight in the historic series since 1983-84 and also capped perhaps the best season in the program's history.

Harvard also gained some satisfaction from its performance.

"It was a great race," Harvard coach Charley Butt said. "There's a lot of pride to be taken in such a race. That was No. 1 and No. 3 in the country squaring off for four miles. If you're a rowing fan, you got your money's worth because there was ebb and there was flow. ... In the end, Yale got it.

"But we couldn't be prouder of our crew and the effort that they made."

No matter the result, Yale already has enjoyed a terrific season that included winning the program's first national championship.

Still, the Bulldogs weren't satisfied.

"If we had lost today, the season would be considered a failure," Goodman said. "Because we won, we get to bask in (winning) the national title and the Eastern Sprints. But you come to Yale to beat Harvard. I think we're just as happy for this win as we were for winning the (national championship). I know I am."

As expected, Yale seized the lead at the start at the Gold Star Bridge. Every time the Bulldogs made a strong strategic move, the Crimson answered.

With about a mile to go, Yale led by about two seats.

The tight race was no surprise. Only seconds separated the two programs in two previous races this season, including in the national championship. Yale won both times.

Yale had to get creative. The Bulldogs made an unplanned move to break free of Harvard inside the last mile. Louis instructed his team to take a floating push.

It turned out to be smart call.

"We went and that was the end of them," Louis said. "They didn't have the speed to match that. We got in our rhythm and got in our stride and just took them out."

No official's ruling could take away this win. Last year, the outcome of the regatta was declared "no official result" after the Harvard boat sank.

The second straight varsity victory in the regatta was another sign that the Yale program is on the rise. The Bulldogs, who also won the second varsity and third varsity eight races to sweep for the first time since 1996, are excited about the future.

The memories about the "bad old days" of the rivalry are starting to fade.

"My freshman year, I was in the junior varsity (boat) and we lost to Harvard by 29 seconds," Goodman said. "So it's been a huge turnaround for the program. It's really been driven by each class that comes in. Each class remembers less of the bad old days and they come in assuming that they're going to win.

"And they train like winners. And that's been really incredible to see."

g.keefe@theday.com