"We've come so far to make it to the championship game," senior forward Lisa Cutone said. "If we could have won, it would have been perfect. It would have been like a fairy tale. I can't believe it didn't happen."

PROVIDENCE. R.I.--Once upon a time, there was a mediocre Harvard field hockey team.

But in the 1986 season, Coach Nita Lamborghini gave her lemon a fuel injection. She recruited reliable center back Erin O'Brien to shore up her porous defense. Explosive forwards Sharon Landau and Cutone were brought in to add scoring punch to a lackluster offense. And three-sport superstar Char Joslin was an instant hit, nabbing All-Ivy honors her first season.

The four newcomers, however, could not turn an ugly Crimson duckling into a swan overnight. Harvard plodded to its second straight three-win season.

"Four years ago, this team stunk," Cutone said.

This year the Crimson, now coached by Sue Caples, breezed through four Ivy contests with an unblemished record. The seniors were finally getting a taste of victory. The frog turned into a prince. The glass slipper fit.

Even after falling to lowly Princeton for the 15th time in 16 years, Harvard had a chance to make its fantasy come true by stomping the first-place Bears.

Harvard trailed most of the game, thanks in part to the wicked witch in the Bruin cage, Sarah Lamont--a member of the family responsible for the noisetrap in the Yard.

But late in regulation, Cutone zipped a penalty stroke past the husky six-footer to tie the game. The team of destiny was ready to cop its first-ever title. The seniors' years of hard work was about to pay off.

Midway through overtime, Brown forward Patricia Beatini tallied on a point-blank stuff. The Bruins held on for the victory and the championship. The clock struck midnight, and the carriage turned back into a pumpkin.

"I can't believe that even though we came back and tied it, we lost," Cutone said. "I thought for sure when that last goal went in the ref was going to say, `No goal.'"

Blissful fantasy gave way to harsh reality. This was Harvard's best chance for a title in 17 years. Who knows when another chance will come along?

"Our main goal this year was to win the Ivy League championship, and we knew we'd have a good chance," sophomore Sandra Whyte said. "It hurts to come this close. But we'll have more [chances]."

Shouldn't Whyte be more upset? Look at Brown: its entire front line is populated by freshmen who haven't learned how to lose yet. Players like Chris Monteiro, who scored the Bruins' first goal on a no-angle shot to equal the all-time Brown season scoring record of nine goals.

"I think we're going to be pretty good next year," Monteiro said. "Now we knowwhat it's like."

The Harvard seniors never found out. But asCaples pointed out, they made a tremendouscontribution to the program.

"Just because we didn't win an Ivy titledoesn't mean we haven't had a successful season,"Caples said. "It's been our best one yet. Theseniors can still feel good about what they'vedone this year. We've raised the level of fieldhockey in this program."

According to Brown Coach Wendy Anderson, theinspiration of players like Joslin, Cutone andLandau will lift future Harvard squads to greaterheights.

"Having those sort of players in front of youonly gives you something to play up to," Andersonsaid. "People who are not playing that much atHarvard right now can say, 'Be as good as Char.Play like Lisa does. Do this like Sharon.' That'show you build a program. They'll be fine."

Will they be fine next year?

"Winning the title was sort of a dream goal,"she said. "We came a long way. It's been our bestchance so far, but I guarantee there will bemore...Next year, we'll get 'em.

Next year, returing players like Whyte, 1988Ivy Rookie of the Year Ceci Clark and BeckyGaffney may make the dream goal come true.

And they'll all live happily even after