It took a whole lot of Hart and a whole lot of soul, but finally--oh so finely--the Harvard women's lacrosse team proved there's life after the University of Massachusetts

Before some 250 revelling fans Saturday on Soldiers Field, the Crimson recorded one of its biggest wins in recent history--a 7-4 come from behind upset victory over the team that ruined its 1983 season

After UMass handed the Crimson a 7-6 last minute loss in the quarterfinals of last year's NCAA tournament, no one East or West of the Rio Grande handed this year's Harvard squad a legitimate chance

But it one era died when UMass abruptly ended the careers of Harvard's five most talented players on last year's team, certainly another blossomed Saturday on wet and dreary Soldiers Field when Maggie Hart--straight from New Mexico's Rio Grande--lead the Crimson to new heights

The Minuteman squad that a year ago contained a team many considered the finest in Harvard women's lacrosse history just couldn't contain Hart.

The Albuquerque N M native scored three second half goals, four overall, to help Harvard overcome a 4 2 halftime deficit and post a monumental victory over New England's top ranked team

"This is definitely the most satisfying win since I've been here," said Crimson Captain Hart

What made it most satisfying was not the revenge the Crimson earned by beating UMass, nor the higher national ranking the Crimson will most certainly earn when the poll comes out today.

Instead what made the Crimson's sixth straight victory of the season so important was what it did to the rumors of Harvard's death.

"This win shuts everybody up," Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder said "This will once and for all stop everybody from comparing this team with last year's team

"We've now done something that team couldn't do."

Two time losers to UMass a year ago (the Minutemen defeated Harvard 7-6 in the regular season as well), the Crimson now sports a 6-1 record that includes a six game winning streak

And it also sports a new outlook on life.

We just squeezed out some of those [early season] victories," junior defender Jennifer Greeley said "But with this we proved something to a lot of teams as well as to ourselves"

I think that we thought this would be an easy game," UMass Coach Polly Keener said after wards "We weren't ready for this. Harvard took advantage of everything"