"I was kind of surprised, because coming in, you don't think of yourself as one of the one or two players who'll step up right away," said Fleiszer, a Montreal native who prepped for two years at Choate before coming to Harvard.

"I wasn't sure that I would be able to pick up the system right away, especially with the new coaching staff and all," Drakos added.

According to Murphy, under ideal conditions there wouldn't be that many freshmen in the lineup.

"I'm not real excited about [the large number of freshmen], actually," he said. "I believe in merit, so I play our best players, but it's a tough situation.

"They're still freshmen, and we all have to remember that they'll make mistakes. The teams that win consistently on Saturday are usually the ones dominated by seniors and juniors, and it'll be a while before we get to that point."

At the same time, of course, Murphy doesn't hesitate to heap praise on the freshmen who have filled critical gaps on his first Harvard team.

"We're very pleased with these student-athletes, and we have great hopes for them in the coming years," he said.

Apparently, the players share his hope. Visions of championships dance in their heads.

Said Drakos, a New Yorker who caught three balls last Saturday against Colgate: "Me and all the other freshmen have one goal [for our time at Harvard], and that's to get a ring--to win the Ivy League title."