Well, the Harvard women's lacrosse team's season come to an end last weekend at the hands of perennial bridesmaid Maryland.

But there is no reason for the Crimson to hang its head.

This team was not expected to make it this far: it lacked experience, and it lacked depth.

Still, there was reason to believe that Harvard would take home the title.

The Crimson destroyed then top-ranked Princeton, 13-2, in the first week of the season and went on to defeat the Terrapins, 7-5, in early April.

Harvard finished its season with a 13-1 record, the lone defeat coming against Loyola (MD).

Oddly enough, that loss seemed to foreshadow the Crimson's only other defeat of the season: Sunday's championship game.

Harvard had a lead. Then it rested on its laurels. Stopped attacking the net. Blew the lead. Lost the game.

After the setback at Loyola, Harvard spent time in practice working on its attack. It gutted out close wins over Cornell and Vermont. All seemed in order for another national championship.

In fact, things got so good, that people began comparing this team to the 1990 team, which won the first NCAA women's championship in Harvard history, perhaps an inevitable step.

The 1990 team boasted seven starting seniors. It had the services of Ceci Clark, Sarah Leary and Becky Gaffney as starters, with Buffy Hansen and Liz Berkery off the bench.

That team had finished second in the country the year before and was out for blood. It was fast, experience and deep. The team had one goal: a national championship, and nothing was going to get in its way.

But there were salient differences between the two squads.

For starters, the 1992 team wasn't as deep. Only four seniors started for the Crimson. While it had the benefit of a Leary with two more years experience, most of the team had not been to the championship before.

Once they got to The Show, it was a whole new season. Those who hadn't been there for the first title were rookies again, and it showed in the first 10 minutes of the Princeton game.