The climb to the top is never easy, but for the Harvard women's lacrosse team it promises to get better from here.

With only three seniors and 10 freshmen on a roster of 26 players, the Crimson began a difficult ascent this season in an effort to reclaim Harvard's status as a national contender.

The team closed out the regular season at 5-9 overall and 2-5 in the Ivy League. Tri-captain Claudia Asano and freshman Erin Kutner were both named to the All-Ivy Second Team and freshman Hilary Walton was named an All-Ivy Honorable Mention.

Asano netted a career-high 26 points on 23 goals and three assists.

"I think we have a really young team," Asano said. "Getting them experience this season was extremely important to the program, even though it wasn't necessarily best for the year's record."

And with Coach Carole Kleinfelder, the winningest coach in women's collegiate lacrosse history, who has seen more than 28 athletes gain All-America status, Harvard was going to get that experience. Midway through the season the Crimson faced the toughest team on the women's lacrosse scene: four-time defending national champions, No. 1 Maryland.

"We're lucky to have Maryland on our schedule," said Kleinfelder after the game. "You couldn't have played out there without learning something about flawless stickhandling and how to play incredibly hard. It might be a hard way to learn, but we learned a lot today."

Despite dropping a 21-3 loss to the Maryland powerhouse, the Crimson made a few sparks in the process. Kutner excelled on the defensive front, holding the Terrapins top scorer--sophomore Jen Adams--to only two goals. On the attack, Walton and Asano netted a goal apiece amidst the hail of Maryland tallies.

In Ivy play, the Crimson downed Pennsylvania 11-5 after warming up with convincing victories over Boston College by 14-8 and St. Joseph's by 9-3 early in the season. Sophomore Lauren Corkery and Asano led the way for Harvard with two goals and an assist each against the Quakers.

Sophomore goalie Keltie Donelan gave the Crimson solid performances all season. Filling the shoes of First-Team All-Ivy goaltender Kate Schutt from the 1997-1998 season, Donelan made over 140 saves throughout the year and played every minute in goal for the Crimson.

Although Harvard lost its last two games, it won two of its last four, including a 15-10 slugfest with Notre Dame, in which Corkery scored five goals, and a 6-5 squeaker over Columbia.

That win--the Crimson's final home game--saw Harvard post its second victory in the Ivy, with all three seniors scoring. Senior Lauren Dahmen netted one while senior Clare Parker and Asano each turned in two goals. Freshman Heather Hussey added to the action with her 13th goal of the season in second half.

"It was hard to come together as a team," said Asano. "We had a lot of tough injuries, the talent is really young and it was a tough to keep everyone together. But I learned an incredible amount this season. It's not about winning, it's about having fun together and being a team."