Respect.

All teams want it. Not many get it.

Even Ivy League champions feel like Rodney Dangerfield sometimes.

A case in point is the Harvard men's soccer team, which tied with Brown for the Ivy League title but won the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid due to its 2-0 victory over the Bears.

But instead of teams getting overly psyched to play defending champion Harvard, many still give the Crimson (5-9-2 last year, 5-1-1 Ivy) little concern, a result of Harvard's failing to win any of its nine non-Ivy games.

"We haven't earned their respect," junior Will Kohler said. "That is only the good thing that comes as a way of how we won the Ivies."

In other words, teams will probably fear playing number 13 Columbia more than they will the defending league champions. The same poll lists Harvard in the middle of the Ivy League pack. But that's fine with the squad.

The players won the crown fair and square--and in the most dramatic fashion. Harvard scored two goals in overtime to devastate Brown in the regular season finale before a standing-room-only home crowd and then waited for Dartmouth to topple Columbia the next day.

Although Boston University, then the top-ranked team in the nation, eliminated Harvard from the NCAA Tournament with a 2-0 victory, the season ended up a success.

To say the least, Harvard feels that it can and should compete for the crown once again.

"I have very high expectations for this team," fourth-year head coach Steve Locker said. "They are a bit of an unproven team, but they are very talented, very young and more mature and seasoned than last year."

The Crimson presents only two seniors on its roster--captain Chris Wojcik and goalie Ned Carlson--but the apparent youth of the team is tempered by the experience that a very strong junior and sophomore class brings with them. In addition, the team graduated only five players, losing just three of its 11 starters from a year ago.

Midfielders and Forwards

The Crimson is loaded with talent upfield.

MEN'S SOCCER