If you take a look at the "Men's 1996 Outlook" section of the 1996 Harvard Lacrosse brochure, here's what you'll find:

"Despite the accomplishments (of the 1995 season), the 1996 squad wants to take its level of play further, specifically to the NCAA Tournament. Harvard's goal may quickly become a reality with experience and determination."

And as fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers might say, this was next year.

For the 1996 Harvard men's lacrosse team (12-3 overall, 5-1 Ivy) did exactly what it set out to do way back in March: go to the NCAA's for the first time since 1990.

"Going into the season, we felt we had a team that could make the NCAA tournament," co-captain Mike Eckert said. "It's something we expected to do, but it's nice to reach a goal that you set for yourself."

But the team knew at the beginning of the season that making the big dance wasn't going to be easy. Crammed into the team's schedule were the same nemeses that have plagued Harvard so frequently in the recent past: Duke, Notre Dame, Princeton, Brown and UMass, among others.

After squeaker losses to Duke (13-11), Notre Dame (15-10), and UMass (8-6) last season, this year's seniors were determined to exact revenge.

Yet the chips were stacked against them at the outset by Old Man Winter, who dumped a record amount of snow on Boston and forced the team to practice indoors at Briggs Cage until just two days before their season opener against Boston College.

Early wins against B.C. and Penn were just tune-ups for the first big fish on Harvard's dinner plate. If Harvard could beat Duke, a traditional lacrosse powerhouse ranked eighth in the nation at the time, they would be in the running for an NCAA tournament bid. A loss might prove fatal to their playoff hopes.

The game was tied at seven after the first half before Harvard exploded for five consecutive goals spanning the third and fourth quarters to take a 13-8 lead.

"After the stretch of five consecutive goals, we said to ourselves, 'Wow, we're a pretty good team,'" co-captain Chris Wojcik said.

Harvard went on to win that game, 15-13, and with the win thrust itself into the lacrosse spotlight. But subsequent losses to Notre Dame (7-6 in overtime) and Princeton (17-10) cast doubt on Harvard's shot at the tournament.

All of this made the UMass game, which followed the loss to Princeton, a must-win for Harvard.

And for a must-win game, things weren't looking too good for the Crimson at the beginning of the contest.

Playing in the midst of a downpour, Harvard found itself down 8-2 by the middle of the third quarter. The game, and with it the team's hopes for postseason action, seemed to be slipping away.