Just 15 minutes into the Harvard field hockey squad's very first game of the year, Northwestern had Crimson star Lili Pew working harder than ever.

And Pew wasn't even on the field.

Sidelined for the season with a knee injury, the Crimson captain was working the scoring book. And working very hard. Four Wildcat goals and 10 shots on net in the game's opening minutes probably left Pew thankful she was heading for England the next day.

And the 7-0 shellacking left many Harvard fans believing the stickwomen were headed for an extremely long season. Graduation had taken the squad's All-American and two more All-Ivy stars, injuries had taken one of its captains and Northwestern had taken some of its pride.

But nothing ever took away the Crimson's determination.

Seven weeks after that Black Saturday in September, the Cantabs closed out their season with a double-overtime scoreless tie against Yale. Between that season opener and last Saturday's season finale, Harvard often used sheer determination to overcome far more talented opponents and post stunning victories over the likes of Penn and Dartmouth--all en route to an 8-6-1 mark.

Perhaps the most telling feat of all was the Crimson's climb to prominence in the Ivy League--a climb which saw Harvard reel off four straight victories before closing with the season's most disappointing loss, at Brown, and the tie at Yale. But the 4-1-1 league record was good enough for a second-place league finish, just one-half game behind Penn's 5-1 championship mark.

"We came closer than ever before," says senior Captain Juliet Lamont. "And considering where we started," she adds, "that's something to be pretty proud about."

Just about the only thing that's certain concerning where this year's squad started is that it was in this country. Last year, the Crimson opened its season with a jaunt through Ireland, tuning up for what would be its first winning season ever. It was a trip that team members say left them well prepared for last year's season, and with memories they will pass on to their grandchildren.

When this year's season opened, there had been no preseason trip, no chance to prepare for Northwestern. The result was memories of a season opener that team members won't even pass on to their roommates.

"Last year, when we got back from Ireland," Lamont says, "we were already good. It took a lot more time to settle down this year."

And for a squad without the big stars of yesteryear, the early season problems left the Crimson looking for some much-needed direction.

It came from Harvard Coach Edie Mabrey.

In her fifth year at the helm, the Crimson coach molded an average team into a good team--a very good team.

"Edie inspired so much confidence and so much motivation in us," Captain Ellen O'Neill says. "In past years that had come from the field. This year it came from the sidelines."

What the squad did with that confidence and motivation was turn in its second straight winning record and achieve a national ranking of 16th--its highest ever.

And as the Crimson looks to next year, there are only words of optimism, feelings that 1984 will be the Year of the Stickwomen. The squad loses just two starters in Beth Mullen and Lamont. And though that leaves huge gaps in the lineup, Mabrey and company acknowledge that next year's senior class is one of the most talented in the squad's history.

Add that to the knowledge that this year's quarter of sophomores is one of the finest in the Ivy League and you get the feeling that the Crimson's first-ever Ivy title isn't very far off.

"If we can start off next year where we left off this year," Mabrey says, "the Ivy title is no question."