The key to Harvard's newfound success was the play of Petruccelli. Coach Steve Locker installed an Italian-style offense for the team, which relies upon precision passing to generate pressure. His skill in the middle of the field gave direction to the attack.

Before Petruccelli came back from his injury, Harvard was floundering in trying to replace All-American Tommy McLaughlin '98, who led the Crimson in scoring in 1997 and is the program's career assists leader. McLaughlin was drafted by the New England Revolution last year, and with his graduating class went 40-percent of last year's scoring output.

Along with Petruccelli, Kelly and Hench emerged as strikers for the Crimson. It took Hench until Cornell to find the back of the net, but he ended up finishing second to Petruccelli's 17 points with 11 on four goals and three assists. Kelly posted ten points on the year, with five goals.

"We lost Tom from last year," Lundquist said. "We didn't get Armando until the fourth game and he controlled the midfield."

After the Cornell win, the squad hit a little snag, dropping two of its next three. Northeastern bested Harvard 3-2, while Princeton won 1-0 on a gorgeous free kick stick by senior Chris Palpuka from 25 yards out.

The Crimson applied plenty of pressure on the Tigers, dominating most of the game, but it couldn't score. That loss knocked it from Ivy contention and prompted Locker afterwards to remark that the team now played for pride.

Harvard responded by not losing another game.

"I think everyone realized that we we're better than our results," Dupuis said. "We just dug in as a team."

The Crimson started its final five-game unbeaten streak by exploding for three goals on Fair-field, which took a 14-2 record into the contest on Oct. 28. Fittingly, the three scorers were Petruccelli, Kelly and Hench.

The Fairfield game also witnessed the continued development of the freshman class. Nick Lenicheck assisted on two of Harvard's goals and finished the year with nine points.

Jonathan Oslowski and Marko Soldo also began to display their offensive talents down the stretch, posting six and five points, respectively, in their rookie campaigns.

The defense then outfought a very physical Dartmouth team for stunning 2-1 victory. The win knocked the then No. 22 Big Green out of contention for the Ivy Title and showed the maturation of the Harvard squad through the season.

Harvard then rolled up to Portland to roll over Maine 3-0 on Nov. 4. It proved one last time it could play with some of the best team in the country as it battled Brown to a 2-2 tie in the season's penultimate game.

Last up on the schedule came Hartwick and Dupuis' record setting performance in the 1-0 win.

"I was very pleased with how we played down the stretch," Locker said. "The players grew as individuals and as competitors, and we got things moving in the right direction."