"You talk to a superstar player," Taylor said. "The schools are comparable in many ways so the kid says, `There's a program that's number one in the country, and they want me, and there's Tim Taylor and his program.' It's not much of a choice."
This year the disparity between Harvard and Yale is as great as it has ever been. Harvard sports two of the nation's best players in Lane MacDonald and Allen Bourbeau. Both played on the U.S. Olympic Team in 1988.
Harvard has four of the league's top five scorers. The Crimson's pair of goalies lead the league in goals-against average.
The First Time
In the first meeting this year, the Crimson beat the Elis, 6-2, at Bright Center.
"You have those years," Harvard Coach Bill Cleary said. "You're up and down. Every team goes through its cycles."
The Elis' only star is Baseggio, who holds team records for goals and assists by a defenseman. Last year, Baseggio was the team's leading scorer with four goals and 22 assists.
"We're a young team," Baseggio said. "With each game, we're getting better. But now it's either put up or shut up."