While the Harvard men's lacrosse team fell short of its goal, returning to the NCAA Tournament after a trip in 1996, in every other way the season was an unqualified success.

The Crimson ended with a record to be proud of, posting an 11-3 overall record, including a dominating 5-1 in Ivy League play. It was the undisputed king of New England and won eight of its last nine games.

Were it not for a number of upsets that put perhaps less accomplished teams in the Tournament, Harvard may have had a chance to test its abilities on the national scene.

Record: 11-3, 5-1 IVY

Coach: Scott Anderson

Highlights: Defeated ranked opponents Notre Dame, UMass; Mike Ferrucci named Ivy Player of the Year

Seniors: Jim Bevilacqua, Lou Bevilacqua, Charlie Brown, Jared Chupaila, Doug Crofton, Brian Famigletti, Mike Ferrucci, Rob Hatch, Owen Leary, Brad Oliphant

Were it not for the Princeton Tigers, who have won three consecutive national championships, the Crimson might have Ivy League rings to show.

Instead they were the bridesmaids for the third consecutive year, were among only five teams to finish in the top 10 in the nation in both scoring offense and scoring defense and received a hefty stack of individual awards.

At the top of the list was captain Mike Ferrucci, who garnered Ivy League player of the year honors and was an Honorable Mention All-American. Sophomore defenseman and captain-elect Jeff Psaki was selected to the All-Ivy First Team and also was an Honorable Mention All-American.

Seniors Owen Leary and Jim Bevilacqua and sophomore goalie Keith Cynar were all named to the All-Ivy Second Team and Cynar, who finished in the top ten in the countries in goals against, was named Rookie of the Year. Finally, senior midfielder Doug Crofton won Honorable Mention All-Ivy honors.

However the measure of this team is better found in its gritty wins and in the resilience it showed after dropping two early-season games and losing senior starting midfielder Lou Bevilacqua to an MCL sprain for half the season. Harvard started the season strongly, crushing Holy Cross and Boston College, and beating Penn for its first Ivy league win. The soft early schedule perhaps left the team unprepared for its spring trip, however.

The Crimson dropped a close 11-8 contest to No. 9 Hobart March 24 before being beaten soundly by No. 3 Duke, 18-6, to close out its trip.

However, Harvard found its feet against Vermont after returning to Cambridge, pounding the Catamounts, 24-6, and then survived the charge of a young Cornell squad, using two late goals from Jim Bevilacqua to secure the victory.

The Crimson then traveled to Providence for the always-difficult matchup against the Brown Bears and walked out with a convincing 13-8 victory.