ITHACA, N.Y.--Like the Duracell battery bunny, this year's Harvard men's lacrosse team keeps going and going and going.

The 11th-seeded Crimson established itself as a serious contender for the 1996 Division I Men's Lacrosse championship, knocking out sixth-seeded Hofstra in a convincing 15-12 victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Only in the playoffs would one expect a game like this to have it all--heroes, dramatic rallies, broken records and dazzling highlights--all despite the pounding rain and the jitters of playing in the NCAA tournament.

"I thought it was a very evenly played game, a very fairly played game and a surprisingly error-free game given the difficulty in playing in those kind of conditions." Harvard coach Scott Anderson said. "I felt the game was played wide-open and not in as controlled a manner [Harvard's favored style of play] as maybe other teams would have chosen."

It was co-captain midfielder Pat Marvin (six goals, 12 assists) who turned on the ignition of Harvard's offensive machine, and it was Pat Marvin who drove the rest of the way.

With a little less than four minutes gone in the first quarter, Pat Harvard  15 Hofstra  12

Marvin challenged his man one-on-one at the top of the crease and took it--well, floored it--all the way to the hole to give Harvard the first goal of the game.

In case anyone missed it the first time, Pat Marvin did the same move four minutes later, give Harvard a 2-1 lead that set the tone for the rest of the period.

"When we were on transition, there was really no one in the crease," Marvin said. "[Hofstra's] second slide wasn't there, and it was just like 'let's go to the hoop.'"

And go to the hoop they did, as the Crimson had a few things to clear up with the NCAA committee--which gave Harvard an arguably undeserved low-seed in the 12-team tournament--before the first period was over.

"This victory really proves to the country we didn't deserve an 11 seed," junior mid-fielder Jon Lopez said. "We thought all along we beat a couple good teams throughout the season...We came out and proved we deserve a higher seed."

Still in the first quarter, sophomore attackman Mike Ferrucci stuffed Hofstra's goalie, co-captain Kevin Johnson, intercepting his clearing pass right at his doorstep and flicked it for a 3-1 Harvard advantage.

Harvard senior mid-fielder Mike Marvin and sophomore midfielder Lou Bevilacqua finished up business in the first frame, each adding two tallies to put Harvard up 5-2 and warning Hofstra that Harvard's potent mid-fielders could not be left alone.

"They really tried to attack our short sticks, and certainly in the first quarter they were successful," Hofstra coach John Danowski said.

The second period also started off with a bang as co-captain Mike Fckert finally broke Harvard's all-time scoring record set by Grady Watts.

Harvard kept right on going at cruise control in the second period, as Eckert and Ferrucci lured the Hofstra defense off to the side of the field and kept the middle lane open for take-off. Two more goals by Pat Marvin kept Harvard at a three-goal lead to end the half.

Hofstra, however, was not down for the count--far from it, in fact. A 10-5 Harvard lead in the third stanza quickly became a 10-8 pincushion as Hofstra sophomore attackman Jarred Testa took matters into his own hands, adding two successive goals to a three-goal Hofstra tantrum.