It was a bittersweet season for the Harvard women's soccer team in 1998. It was also a season that saw the end of one of the greatest eras in the history of Harvard women's soccer.

For the third consecutive year and the fourth time in five years, the Crimson qualified for the NCAA Tournament. However, for the first time in four seasons, Harvard failed to capture the Ivy League title, finishing second to league champion Dartmouth.

Nevertheless, the 1998 season was another successful one for the Crimson under the tutelage of Coach Tim Wheaton. In his 12th season at the helm for Harvard, Wheaton guided his team to an 11-4-1 regular-season record, a 6-1 Ivy mark and a first-round victory in the NCAA tournament.

Of course, Wheaton had some help from one of the most talented squads Harvard had ever seen, led by the second-winningest class in the 22-year history of Harvard women's soccer.

Pacing the Crimson were a pair of perennial First Team All-Ivy honorees, seniors Naomi Miller and Emily Stauffer. Stauffer and Miller are two of only 12 Ivy League players ever to earn First Team All-Ivy accolades in each of their four years.

Each has also been named Ivy League Player of the Year, but both Stauffer and Miller's production was down from years past, a characteristic that plagued most members of the Crimson throughout the season.

"We definitely had a tough time scoring goals," senior Jaime Chu said. "We couldn't put a finger on it. Who knows where to put the blame?"

Harvard started the year off with a bang and a decisive 3-0 victory over New Hampshire. After taking a semester off from school in 1997, Stauffer returned in high form, scoring or assisting on each of Harvard's three goals. But that was when the Crimson's offense stagnated.

Harvard could muster only two goals over its next three games, dropping two of those contests and escaping with a 1-0, double-overtime win over Columbia in the third on a goal by junior standout Beth Zotter.

The Crimson's two early-season losses were one-goal decisions against Penn State and Hartford, both top-15 teams, which would set a trend for the season. All of Harvard's losses, including its lone Ivy League defeat and its season-ending loss in the second round of NCAAs, came at the hands of top-15 teams.

"It wasn't a bad season," Chu said. "We had very high expectations. We had a very successful season for any other team, but it's hard to think of it that way."

Harvard itself was ranked in the national top 25 throughout the season, and the double-overtime victory over Columbia began an eight-game unbeaten streak that included wins over Ivy rivals Yale and Pennsylvania--the Quakers' first loss of the season--as well as the Harvard Invitational Championship.

Even during this successful stretch, however, Harvard only scored more than two goals once, in a dominant 5-0 win over Northeastern. Throughout the season it was the Crimson's stalwart defense--one of the best units in the nation--that kept Harvard ahead of its opponents.

The solid Crimson defense was anchored by junior sweeper Jessie Larson. In front of Larson were senior fullbacks Chu and Ashley Marynick and sophomore stopper Lauren Corkery. Junior Gina Foster, Harvard's most versatile player, also rotated at the fullback spot and doubled as a forward.

Junior Anne Browning handled most of the duties in goal, although senior Jen Burney saw considerable action as well. Together, the Crimson's defensive unit recorded six shutouts and gave up only one goal on seven other occasions.

"Our defense was solid all year," said Chu. "We worked well as a group when the pressure was on us."

Harvard's unbeaten streak was stopped by then No. 3 Connecticut. The Crimson captured two more wins, following the loss, before heading into a Halloween day showdown versus then No. 8 Dartmouth to determine the Ivy League champion.

The Crimson battled all afternoon, but two early goals by the Big Green sealed Harvard's fate. The Crimson got on the board late, but the Dartmouth won the game, 2-1.

"We had high expectations coming in," said Chu, "And losing to Dartmouth didn't help. It was disappointing."

Still, Harvard won three of its last four regular-season games, and drew a home contest versus Central Connecticut State in the first round of the postseason.

Harvard's offense came alive at the perfect time. The Crimson crushed CCSU by a 4-1 count, moving on to a second-round rematch with Hartford. The Crimson was hoping to avenge its earlier loss to the Hawks.

Unfortunately, talent-rich Hartford had other plans and ran Harvard out of the playoffs with a 3-0 win. The Crimson's season had ended and with it, an impressive era in Harvard women's soccer history.

The Crimson graduated eight seniors this season: co-captains Stauffer and Devon Bingham, Miller, Marynick, Chu, Burney, Meredith Bagley and Brynne Zuccaro. The Class of '99 leaves with a career record of 54-13-4, and the claim of putting Harvard women's soccer on the proverbial national map.

After first-round NCAA Tournament losses to UMass in 1994 and 1996, this corps of players saw Harvard through an improbable and impressive postseason run in their junior year. The Crimson avenged its earlier losses to UMass with a convincing 2-0 win in the first round in 1997.

Harvard then hosted George Mason in the second round for a chance to move on to the national quarterfinals. In triple overtime, Miller found the back of the net to lift the Crimson to a 2-1 victory and a match-up with national powerhouse North Carolina.

Versus North Carolina, the team that has won 15 of the 18 NCAA-sponsored national championships in women's soccer, Harvard dueled valiantly before falling by the narrow margin of 1-0. The Crimson finished 1997 ranked No. 6 in the nation, and Harvard women's soccer had made its mark.

1998 also marked the end of the Stauffer Era in the Ivy League. Arguably the greatest female player to don an Ivy League uniform, Stauffer graduates as Harvard's all-time assist leader and a four-time All-American. This year Stauffer was awarded the NCAA's highest honor when she was named one of the NCAA Top Eight athletes, male or female, from any sport at any division, including junior college.

But as an era ends for Harvard women's soccer, a tradition continues. Larson and Zotter will captain a Crimson squad next year that returns a wealth of talent. Foster, juniors Ashley Berman and Julia Blain and sophomore Meredith Stewart solidify a strong, veteran offense.

Corkery will be back with Larson, and sophomore backs Brooke McCarthy and Ashley Mattison are poised to move into starting roles. Also ready to step up is a talented freshman class, led by forward Colleen Moore and midfielder Jennie Ghani.

"I think they'll do great next year," said Chu. "I can see outsiders underestimating them, but the upcoming seniors are a very strong class."

The Harvard women's soccer team should be just fine next season as it looks to regain the Ivy League title, but the 1998 season will be remembered as the auspicious finale of one of the most dominant classes Harvard has ever seen.