Just minutes later, Steffa made his presence felt again-this time at the other end of the field-when he blocked a Northeastern shot after Crimson goalkeeper Mike Meagher had been drawn away from the net.

"He played a very good game in his first college start," Kerr said. "The thing I like about Joe is that he's very vocal.

Steffa's goal stood up for the next thirty minutes of play until Northeastern answered with a breakaway goal by forward Leroy Watkins at 33:00.

The victory handed the Crimson just its second win of the season, but may prove important. Harvard needed a confidence booster following the loss of Kelly, and also junior defender Matt Edwards among other players.

The squad's younger players have been forced to step up and prove themselves despite limited experience. Nevertheless, if yesterday's game is any indication of how those younger players are going to respond, coach Kerr has reason to be optimistic about the rest of the season.

Despite Edwards' absence against the Huskies yesterday, the Harvard defenders performed well in front of their goalkeeper Meagher. Freshman sweeper Mike Lobach, for one, broke up several potential scoring opportunities for Northeastern. As a unit, the Crimson defense held the Huskies to just two scores, no small feat considering that they had amassed 19 goals against their previous four opponents.

"[Yesterday's win] gives us confidence," Kerr said. "We need that. We've got another big weekend coming up."