"I play as hard as I can every second on the field, in a game or in a practice," he says. "That's the way my father taught me to play: if you don't play to win, it's not worth playing at all."

He was a ball-carrier in high school, but was converted to attack by Harvard Coach Scott Anderson.

"I had to play off the ball and become a goal scorer," he says. "It wasn't that hard. Plus, I liked scoring goals."

"I wanted this to be a tough team," he continues. "I wanted this team to be the hardest working in Division I."

He couldn't have been happier with the outcome.

"The way they responded to me, I couldn't ask for a better bunch of kids to lead," he says. "I feel a great deal of pride and affection for my teammates and their performance."

In his role as captain, he has also tried to use his experience and perspective to mold the team.

"I've tried to help them [the younger players] realize that lacrosse wasn't the most important thing in the world," he says. "I tried to direct the team to take steps not just to win, but to be a true athlete, and realize why we play this, or any sport."

He has enjoyed a particularly close relationship with his fellow senior teammates Charlie Gay, Mike Agrillo and Matt Camp.

"We're all each other's best friends," he says. "I may have been elected captain, but the attitude of the team is as much due to their leadership as mine."

Porter has also enjoyed an exceptional working relationship with Coach Anderson.

In his early days on the squad, Porter's hard play sometimes made him over-aggressive.

"For three years, [Coach Anderson] was probably pulling his hair out at some of the more intolerable things I did," he says with a chuckle.

Upon graduation, Porter, a government concentrator, will attend law school and then serve as an Army counsel as part of his ROTC service.

Despite some of the disappointments the team has endured this season, Porter will leave the team contented.

"Stats and records don't matter to me," he says. "I suppose I would have liked to make the playoffs, but any disappointment I feel is offset by the satisfaction in the progress the team has made."

"If you play as hard as you can, you can't have any regrets, win or lose."