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.

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.

His shot was incredibly accurate and rarelyfailed him. His quality showed against thetoughest opponents with at least two goals againstBrown, Princeton and Notre Dame. Crofton'sconnection with Ferrucci was uncanny at alltimes--their bread-and-butter was a give-and-goplay from the top which always seemed to work fora shot.

It would be hard to say anything more aboutMike Ferrucci. A gifted player and leader, hisrecognized excellence lifted the play of everyonearound him. He has solidified his place as perhapsthe greatest player in Harvard lacrosse historywith a plethora of awards and impressivestatistics.

However, his most important legacy to hisyounger teammates will be the lesson thatbrilliance and success on the field are a productof commitment and hard work off of it.

The seniors leave behind them a legacy ofexcellence, and with only one junior returning, tosay they will be sorely missed absurdlyunderstates the case.

Despite the decision of the NCAA selectioncommittee, Harvard ended the season playing itsbest lacrosse.

"What was impressive and also disappointingabout this year was that, with the exception of atough Hobart loss, we did everything we had to doafter the Princeton [loss] and won all ourremaining games," said Coach Scott Anderson.

Next year's team will have difficulty achievingas much, but that's no surprise. The 1998 Crimsonwas one of the finest teams in Harvard history,which is exactly how it should be remembered