As the final minute ticked off the clock in the second overtime period of yesterday's men's soccer game, there was still hope.

Harvard sophomore goalie Jordan Dupuis moved beyond midfield to add an extra man to the attack. The ball rattled around the Hartford penalty area. The Crimson tried desperately for a tying goal.

The announcer began to count down with 10 seconds left to play. Three, two, one. The Harvard players collapsed to the ground. Fatigued. Numb.

Yesterday, the season ended for the Harvard men's soccer team with a 3-2 double overtime loss to the University of Hartford in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

"Having the season over is devastating," Dupuis said. "I think that the team has become really close over the course of the season and to have it end like this it just doesn't seem right. You can probably tell I've been crying and a lot of the other boys have as well. It's just something I don't think anyone can prepare themselves for."

A man down for 50 minutes of play, the Crimson could not recreate the magic that had given it a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Boston University Terriers a week earlier.

In a scenario reminiscent of last week's first round game, the Crimson fell behind early. Twenty-eight minutes into the first half, senior defender Jon Vrionis lost the ball to Hartford forward Rob Jachym on the 18-yard line just left of Dupuis.

Jachym trapped the ball with his right foot, switched it over to his left and then fired a shot into the lower right hand corner of the goal. The perfectly-placed ball--between the right goal post and the outstretched arms of Dupuis--put Hartford up, 1-0.

"I thought we would have learned Hartford  3 Harvard  2

after last week to come out in the first half and take control of the game," captain Will Kohler said. "It's just a shame that we came out the way we did because it's hard to come back."

Throughout the rest of the first half, Harvard's Dupuis kept his team in the game save after save. Twice in the closing minutes of the half, Dupuis made diving saves against point blank shots by Hartford's strong attackers.

With nine minutes remaining, Jachym, who would score all three of Hartford's goals, streaked dangerously up the left side of the field. Dupuis left his line to cut off the angle and then dove to the ground to block the shot.

Although the Harvard offense appeared out of sync during much of the first 45 minutes of play, the team was not without its scoring opportunities.

Junior midfielder Tom McLaughlin played a perfect ball in front of the goal with under five minutes to go in the opening period. Will Kohler headed the ball into the net only to have Hartford goalie Kevin Hickey leap and grab the ball out of mid-air.

In the second half, the Crimson came out more intense and aggressive.

"It's a shame, but with this team in the post-season, apparently we have to feel the pressure of being a goal down or two goals down to be able to get our game into gear," Kohler said. "The second half we absolutely dominated."

The Crimson's comeback effort was aided by the entrance of sophomore midfielder Armando Petruccelli seven minutes into the half.