The phrase "winning isn't everything" holds true for the overall season of the Harvard field hockey team.

After a campaign filled with both huge wins and bad losses, the squad's overall performance was commendable, especially in the end.

In the Ivy League, the Crimson ended with three wins and three losses and went 5-9 overall. In its final game of the season this past Tuesday, the Crimson showed its true colors as it defeated Brown, 4-1.

For a transition year, this win ended the season on a promising note.

"Our record does not indicate how good of a team I think we are," junior Melanie Allen said. "But the team improved a lot, and by the end of the season we reached a new level. We came together as a team."

The Crimson began its Ivy League season on a high-note with a win against Cornell, which was followed by alternating wins and loses against Penn, Yale and Princeton. In its final two Ivy challenges of the season, the Crimson lost to Dartmouth and defeated Brown.

Mixed in with the league games were several tough nonleague games. The biggest win of the season was a stunning 2-1 upset last Wednesday over then number-eight Northeastern, where the Crimson came from behind and won the match in the final seconds.

Sophomore Liz Schoyer was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for last week, as her goal with 3:30 left began the remarkable comeback against the Huskies.

Although the season epitomized a roller coaster ride, the Crimson came out of the campaign focusing on the good games and learning from the bad ones.

"I think that from where we came from--the fact that there were only four returning starters--we made a huge improvement mentally and ability-wise," junior goalie Jessica Milhollin said. "I was proud of how we finished up."

Ivy Recap

Princeton, having compiled a perfect 5-0 Ivy record and a 16th-place national ranking, is already secured of the Ivy League title.

If the Tigers defeat Penn in their final game of the Ivy season, they will complete the season with a perfect league record, which has only been done two times in the past--in 1982 by Princeton and in 1983 by Penn.

In last week's Ivy League match-ups, Brown defeated Cornell, Dartmouth ousted Harvard and Penn prevailed over Yale.