For the Harvard booters, Saturday's game with Brown was a season in itself. A win over the Bruins would have represented a bright spot in an otherwise frustrating season.

And in the end the 1-0 Brown victory was a microcosm of the Harvard season--the flashy plays were there, and most of all, the disappointment was there, too.

For 86 minutes, Harvard and Brown, both using four fullbacks, played tight defense, holding each other to a few good shots and no goals.

"We were just trying to close them down," captain and defensive leader Jim Langton said of the Crimson's tight man-to-man coverage in its zone.

Then, at 41:15 of the second half, Peter Van Beek, Brown's second leading all-time scorer, jammed a loose ball past two Harvard defenders and drilled the ball home from inside the six-yd. line. The Brown bench stormed the field in celebration. The Harvard defense sat stunned.

"It was a scramble, the whole game was a scramble," Van Beek said of the goal after the narrow victory.

"We went to clear twice and the ball hit a couple bodies and Van Beek found himself open," Langton said. "It's the same thing that's been happening all year."

It was an exasperating outcome for the 3-9-1 booters--for freshman goalie Peter Walsh, who played an outstanding game, making two point-blank saves at the opening of the second half; for Langton, who Ford said "held the team together"; and for Lee Nelson, who played an aggressive game at an unfamiliar halfback position.

Nelson said that he felt "just about the same after the other nine losses.." He added, "I've lost ten before (in 1975). We won't do it again."