The Terriers are coming Sunday for lunch.

Harvard men's soccer team, making its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in the past three years, learned yesterday that it will host Boston University in the first round Sunday at 1 p.m.

Harvard, ranked seventh in the country, clinched an automatic berth in the 32-team tournament by winning the Ivy League title.

But as the players gathered to watch yesterday's announcement of the pairings, the Crimson did not know if its first game would be at home (though the team was pretty sure of that fact). The squad was also uncertain of its opponent; The Crimson is the top team in the Northeast, while the Terriers are ranked fourth.

So Harvard's players gathered at the Crimson Sports Grille at 6 p.m. yesterday to watch the NCAA selection show on the Prime Sport Network. There, the team learned that it would play B.U. (10-6-3) at Ohiri Field.

If the Crimson (15-1, 6-1 Ivy) wins, then it will host the winner of this weekend's Hartford-Rhode Island game.

"I think it's great," Harvard coach Steve Locker said. "We figured that we'd get B.U. They're a very good team."

The two teams met during the season, with Harvard winning 2-1. They also met two years ago in the NCAA Tournament when B.U. was the No. 1 team in the nation. The Terriers won, 2-0.

This season, B.U. earned a spot in the tournament by winning the America East Conference with a 4-3-2 league record.

Players want a strong effort Sunday. The entire team saw UMass upset the Harvard women's soccer team on Sunday in triple-overtime, so the men don't want to get caught looking forward to the Hartford-URI winner.

The fifth team from the Northeast with hopes of making the tournament, UConn, was denied in favor of Hartford, even though the Huskies had been ranked No. 13 in the nation.

The NCAA, not Harvard, is organizing Sunday's game. As policy currently stands, tickets can be purchased only on game day at Ohiri Field.

But the Harvard Sports Information Office said plans would be made tonight for advance ticket purchases