AMHERST, Mass.--A 3-0 loss to the University of Massachusetts in the first round of the NCAA tournament certainly wasn't the way five Harvard seniors--co-captains Beth Morgan and Genevieve Chelius, Sara Simmons, Libby Eynon and Caroline Schreiber--wanted to see their collegiate careers end.

But the loss, as disappointing as it was, marked the final journey in one helluva ride for the quintet.

Three years ago, the Crimson went 9-5-1 and fell in the first round of the ECAC tournament, college soccer's equivalent of the NIT in basketball.

The 1992 and 1993 campaigns were rather disappointing ones where Harvard had sub-500 records, finishing in the middle of the Ivy standings.

More of the same was expected by most outsiders for this season, but did the team ever surprise them and the nation.

"We came here, we kicked ask, we should have been Ivy league champs--that in itself is a big step," Simmons said after yesterday's game. "We were called the darkhorse of the Ivies because nobody knew what we were going to do."

"It was a fantastic season, and we were a fantastic team," she added.

Obviously the freshman class had a big thing to do with this year's success--Harvard's three leading scorers were all rookies. Emily Stauffer (6 goals, 6 assists), Keren Gudeman (4 goals, 6 assist) and Kristen Bowes 4 goals, 2 assists kick-started the attack all year.

And freshman Dana Krein was in goal for all but 34 minutes of the season.

However, the team wouldn't have been the same without its seniors, whose leadership both on and off the field carries a lot of weight beyond the stat sheets.

"People talk about our freshman class and the youth on our team, but really without those seniors we would not have been close to the team we were," Coach Tim Wheaton said after Saturday's 3-3 draw with Brown. "All of our seniors did an awesome job for us all year long."

"I'm so proud of them," he continued. "I can't say enough about them."

Schreiber didn't see too much action this year, but she was solid in the eight games she did play. when others were injured in Ivy contests against Yale and Penn, Schreiber filled in solidly and helped the team win the two games.

Chelius, also a defender, battled through leg problems almost the entire season. A stress fracture in one leg kept her out of a few games, but nothing would stop her from playing the pivotal contests against Dartmouth, Brown and UMass.

She can't walk the day following a game, but she played as well or even better than people with two healthy feet. And she helped lead her team to a success that no Harvard squad attained since 1984.