Similar first quarter difficulties plagued the Crimson in the Princeton game, as the team fell behind 7-1 in the first quarter and despite a strong second half in which Harvard outscored Princeton 5-2, Princeton prevailed 11-6. These losses, coupled by defeats at the hands of Brown and UMass, conspired to keep Harvard out of the NCAA Tournament.

But the season wasn't quite over yet. Harvard rebounded from the midseason difficulties, and played perhaps its best game against archrival Yale.

"We just played, just came out fired up and did everything right," Gaffney said.

Harvard took an whopping 8-0 lead of after the first quarter, and went on to find the net 10 more times in the 18-7 drubbing of Yale.

Ames tied a Harvard record by scoring nine of Harvard's goals that day, and added an assist to push his point total into the double figures. The Crimson went to on to win its final four games of the season.

The freshman class was one of the strongest recruiting classes in the Ivy League. Led by attacker Mike Ferrucci, attacker Jim Bevilacqua and midfielder Lou Bevilacqua, the freshmen proved to be an integral part of the Crimson offense, with Ferrucci racking up numerous Ivy Rookie of the week awards.

"They were some of the best players on the team," Browne said. "Their youth was refreshing and they played well above their years."

Also leading the team were face off specialist junior Pat McCulloch, named the team's Unsung Hero and sophomore defenseman Jeremy Linzee, who was selected as the Most Improved Player.

The team will be aiming for a berth in the NCAA tournament next season, and at least one graduating senior thinks its chances are good and getting better.

"If they work really hard, they can achieve the success in lacrosse," Gaffney said.