The three consecutive wins set the stage for a matchup with then-No. 2 Princeton in front of 2,269 roaring fans at Ohiri Field. The Tigers, who recently won their third national championship, had focused on the game and effectively used First Team All-American Christian Cook to shutoff Ferrucci. The Crimson played tough behind a strong effort from the defense but fell, 15-7.

The game following the Princeton defeat was against a 10th-ranked UMass squad. The Crimson posted one of their best efforts of the season to take home the 13-12 win. Jim Bevilacqua was once again the hero, scoring six goals and winning the game in the final seconds.

The final serious challenge came against Notre Dame, who had beaten Harvard each of the last five years. The Crimson got that monkey off its back with a 9-6 victory manufactured in the second half.

The final two games allowed the Crimson to exact a little revenge against two marginal teams that notched upsets last year, Hartford and Dartmouth. Against the Hawks, Jim Bevilacqua scored six goals, matching his output against UMass. And againstDartmouth Ferrucci was simply unstoppable, scoringsix goals and eight points to end his career inthird place on the Harvard scoring list.

The seniors were the heart and soul of theteam, every single player making significantcontributions.

Brian Famigletti returned to the sport in hissenior year and contributed two goals and anassist. Charlie Brown finished off an excellentcareer facing off for Harvard. Besides hiscontributions on the field, Brown was theconsummate student of his position, studying tape,practicing constantly and tutoring his successor,freshman Adam McGowan.

Rob Hatch was a tough and consistent presenceon the defensive end, using stiff checks andphysical play to shut down opposing attackmen.Underappreciated his entire career, one could makea strong case for Ivy League recognition, but iteluded him, just as he eluded riding attackmenwith awkward but highly effective stick-work.

Defensive longstick Brad Oliphant was anotherunderrated performer. A shortstick when he arrivedin Cambridge, he used his outstanding athletictalent to become an intimidating midfield presenceand a terrific clearer.

His speed and quickness allowed him to shutdown two First Team All-Ivy midfielders,Princeton's Josh Sims and Brown's Jed Dewick.Dewick was held to one goal on a man-up play,while Sims was similarly contained, tallying justa goal of his own.

Jared Chupaila (11 goals, 4 assists) wasperhaps the best, most versatile athlete on a teamloaded with athleticism. A wideout on the IvyLeague-champion football team in his spare time,he played the wing on faceoffs, playing physicaldefense, and was hard-nosed when the ball was onthe ground. Always ready to lay someone out, noone got back quicker on fast breaks.

The fastest player on the team, however, wasChupaila's fellow midfielder, Leary (17 goals, 11assists). Offensively, Leary did not have the samekind of season that put him on the All-Ivy FirstTeam a year ago, partly because he received somuch respect from other teams. Despite theattention, he still finished fifth on the team inscoring, did the little things and contributed aremarkable goal against Cornell to tie the scorein the fourth and give Harvard much-neededmomentum.

The twin duo of Lou and Jimmy Bevilacqua haveamazed Harvard fans in the past four years withshared talent and determination, and verydifferent, but equally effective, styles of play.

Lou Bevilacqua (10 goals, 3 assists) was themost complete player on the team until a kneeinjury slowed him down for part of the year. Oncethe best shortstick defenseman, a dynamo one-manclear, Lou focused his efforts on the offensiveend, scoring and getting the man-up unit clicking.His return and his courageous play despite injuryhelp explain the late surge by the Crimson. Had hebeen healthy, he almost certainly would havejoined his brother on the list of post-seasonhonorees.

Jim Bevilacqua was twice the hero in crunchtime and could be counted on to take it past hisman and straight to the goal all year long.Playing amidst the trees, the 5'7" senior neverbacked down from the challenge and consistentlyouthustled everyone on the field. His last-secondgoal against UMass was the enduring memory of the1998 campaign, a flying dunk set up by a dramaticminute and a half stall behind the net whichfocused the entire stadium on just two men.

"I walked the defender for a minute because Iwanted to slow him down," Bevilacqua said. "Ihadn't used my splitdodge all day, so I wanted togo with that. He bit on the fake and I got to thecrease. I leaped in and got into a bit of trouble,but as soon as I let the ball go I knew it wasin."

Finally, there are the two high schoolteammates and college roommates, Doug Crofton andMike Ferrucci. Crofton had a superb year,finishing third on the team in scoring with 22goals and 10 assists. He was perhaps the mostfundamentally sound player on the team, alwaysworking off the ball and creating opportunitiesfor himself.