BETHLEHEM, Penn.--The immovable object met the irresistible force here, and what a battle it was.

The Harvard women's lacrosse team, the top squad in the nation for virtually the entire season, finally met an opponent that, if not more talented, was certainly more hungry.

Second-ranked Maryland rallied to overcome a 9-6 deficit yesterday and upended the Crimson, 11-10, in overtime in the finals of the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse championship. In doing so, they stole the title which Harvard seemed ready to claim numerous times during the game.

Harvard downed Maryland, 7-6, two years ago to win its first NCAA title, but this year, the Terrapins were out for blood.

The Terps, who topped Virginia, 8-7, in overtime in the semifinal match Saturday, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead yesterday.

Harvard Fought back to tie the game, 5-5, athalf-time, with goals from junior Liz Berkery (2),sophomore Sarah Downing, senior Buffy Hansen andfreshman Sarah Winters.

Winters Scored four goals for Harvard inSaturday's 10-5 victory against Princeton (13-4)in the semifinals.

After the intermission, the laxwomen stormedout with three straight goals including twounassisted scores by sophomore Francie Walton.

At this point, with the score at 9-6, Harvardseemed ready to break out the champagne. But therewere still seven minutes to play.

"We panicked when we were ahead. We didn'tattack the goal like we needed to, and theycapitalized on our mistakes," Coach Carole Kleinfelder said.

Maryland scored two goals Within Minutes ofeach other and then senior Leigh Frendberg tiedthe game at nine with 52 seconds remaining inregulation.

"We stopped going to goal when we were aheadand gave them the game" Co-Captain Ceci ClarkSaid. "I Definitely think we were the betterteam."

"They took advantage of the opportunities wegave them" senior goalie Sarah Leary said.

But Just 48 seconds into the six-minuteovertime period, Harvard drew First Blood When LizBerkery fired a shot in to bring the score to10-9. It was the Sophomore's fourth goals of thegame.

The Terps refused to quit.

"We never gave up once," Said Marylandsophomore Betsy Elder. "We always knew we could doit."

Maryland's patty Parichy tied the game at 10with 2:40 left on the clock. Then Frendberg pickedup a rebound and scored the game winner with 1:15remaining.

"I was facing away from the goal, and therebound rolled past me. I Scooped it Up, and firedback without looking to see where the goalie was.I didn't even see her," said Frendberg.

The Senior from Worthington, Ohio, also talliedthe game-winning goal against defending nationalchampion Virginia the day before.

With just six seconds left, Berkery had a finalchance to tie the game and force a secondovertime. Although the shot was awarded on apenalty, the positioning of the players left fourTerrapins between Berkery And the goal.

"I tried to duck around the defenders andbounce it in, but I couldn't get a clear shot. Ithought about passing but the four defenders'sticks made that even more difficult thanshooting," Berkery Said.

Harvard's defense seemed to be running athalf-speed at times, and although it led in almostall the statistics, turnovers were crucial. Costlymiscues allowed Maryland to get back into thegame.

We knew that the game would be won by whoevercould get possession on the crucial battles, andthey came up with them," said senior Buffy Hansen.

The Crimson finishes the season 14-2 while theTerps end at 14-1.

The Terps now have played in six championshipmatches, but their onlyprevious victory was in 1986.

MARYLAND, 11-10 at Goodman StadiumMaryland  5  4  2  --  10Harvard  5  4  1  --  13

G: Maryland--Elder (3), Frendberg (3),Harmon (2), Parichy (2), Ingram; Harvard--Berkery(4), Walton (2), Downing, Winters, Gaffney,Hansen. A: Maryland--Elder, Frendberg,Manning; Harvard--Collian. S:Maryland--Stevenson (19); Harvard--Leary (7).

HARVARD, 10-5 at Goodman StadiumHarvard  4  6  --  10Princeton  1  4  --  5

G: Princeton--Simons (2), Thomson,Naylor, Magargee; Harvard--Winters (4), Berkery(2), Hansen (2), Walton, Downing. A:Princeton--Bristow; Harvard--Berkery, Hansen,Gaffney. S: Princeton--Saddic (2);Harvard--Leary (13).Isabel M. DedringDespite the efforts of SARAH DOWNING (9),CECI CLARK (5), and MARGOT McANANEY (19), theHarvard women's lacrosse team finished second inthe national championships yesterday.