Another year, another tournament bid for the University of Massachusetts-Amherst women's soccer team. The 23rd-ranked Minutemen will make their sixth consecutive NCAA appearance, their 14th in the last 15 seasons, when they face 10th-ranked Harvard at Ohiri Field Sunday.

Alhough the setting may not be unfamiliar for UMass, their position as underdog may be. The perennial contenders face an uphill battle to return to the Final Four for the first time since 1993, after a 1996 campaign which may be described as somewhat disappointing.

Coach Jim Rudy's team jumped out of the blocks quickly, winning its first nine games by a combined margin of 24-1, which was good enough to propel UMass into the top 10. The Minutemen dominated opponents such as then-22nd-ranked SMU, who they beat 2-0 while outshooting the Mustangs 20-3.

The offense was clicking, led by UMass' all-time leading scorer Rebecca Myers, who tallied eight of the team's first 24 goals, and the defense was almost impenetrable, backed up by goalkeeper Danielle Dion, who ranked among the nation's best in between the posts.

But then disaster struck, and the season took a turn for the worse. On October 4, during an Atlantic-10 conference game at LaSalle, Myers was lost for the season with an anterior cruciate ligament tear, depriving UMass of its most potent goalscoring threat as it reached the meat of its schedule.

Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Year Emma Kurowski (12 goals, six assists) and senior Tina Lightning (five goals, three assists) filled in admirably up front, but the Minutemen were not the same.

Two days later, their winning streak ended at nine when they played George Washington to a 2-2 tie. Following a 2-0 victory over Wright State, the unbeaten streak ended at 11, with two consecutive big-game losses.

Nationally-ranked Dartmouth and UConn both got the best of UMass, winning by 2-0 margins. The Huskies especially dominated the Minutewomen, outshooting them 14-4 in Storrs.

The remainder of the schedule proved a seesaw ride for UMass, with easy wins over weaker Atlantic-10 opponents lifting the team to a 7-0-1 conference record and a lopsided 3-0 loss to sixth-ranked Texas A&M providing a more accurate measure of the team's progress. The regular season ended on a down note with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Dayton in the Atlantic-10 tournament final.

Thus the stage was set for Sunday's showdown. Despite its recent failures, UMass is a very capable team, having shown both flashes of brilliance early in the season and determination as of late. Consider its gritty 1-0 win over George Washington November 9 which knocked the Colonials out of the national rankings. The Minutemen prevailed despite being outshot 21-7 on the combination of Dion's solid goalkeeping and Kurowski's dependable scoring.

To win Sunday, the Minutemen would do well to exploit one of the Crimson's few weaknesses, its tendency to be beaten on fast counterattacks down the wing. Defenders Erin Lynch (12 assists) and Erica Iverson (five goals, four assists) must spring the ball quickly out of the back to make sure that Kurowski, Lightning and midfielder Sandy Shimogaki the scoring chances they will need to help the Minutemen advance to the second round.

On the other side of the ball, Lynch, Iverson & Co. must do a thorough job marking Harvard forward Naomi Miller (13 goals), who has excelled at slipping free of defenses and putting the ball in the back of the net.

Of course, if they concentrate too hard on the Crimson's individual threats, the Minutemen must also be wary of getting beaten by the dribbling of Devon Bingham and Emily Stauffer, who push forward so effectively from their midfield positions.