"The freshmen have really stepped up for us this year," Larson said. "They've been able to step up in really high-pressure situations, and they're all amazing players. We definitely missed them during the game [on Wednesday]."

"It's really hard to tell who's going to make the biggest impact on the program from this year's freshman class," Wheaton said. "They're all very talented players."

The addition of these skillful freshmen to the Crimson's roster have allowed Harvard to breathe a sigh of relief. Last year, graduation snatched away the talents and leadership of seniors Emily Stauffer and Naomi Miller, who are both known as two of the greatest women soccer players in the history of the Ivy League and who both earned Ivy League Player of the Year honors.

Stauffer and Miller, in addition to 1998 co-captain Devon Bingham and defenders Ashley Marynick and Jaime Chu, formed the nucleus of an incredibly talented squad that went to the NCAA Quarterfinals in 1997 and put the Harvard women's soccer program on the national map.

However, even with the wealth of talent on last year's squad, the team was never quite able to play to its full potential. For the first time in four seasons, the Crimson was unable to garner the Ivy League championship and instead ended up disappointingly second in the league behind Dartmouth, an eventual NCAA quarterfinalist.

In 1998, the Crimson ended up with an 11-4-1 regular-season record and a 6-1 Ivy League record. It also garnered a first-round victory in the NCAA tournament against Central Connecticut State before falling to nationally-ranked Hartford 3-0 in the second round.

Because last year's graduating class was largely responsible for making the Harvard women's soccer team a national threat, its absence on this year's team could prompt speculation about the team's chances for success in the future.

"We can't lose a class like that without rebuilding," Wheaton said. "But this year's seniors and upperclassmen really worked hard over the summer, which will make a huge impact on our program."