It happened too often to be mere coincidence, but before this column transforms into a Steffa agape, the Crimson certainly did miss Kelly on the field yesterday as it did in a 3-0 loss against No. 8 Yale Saturday.

He holds the offense together, and really is a defensive presence on the team. He brings down and controls balls skied at midfield that his teammates simply cannot reach.

Kerr's only viable solution is to replace Kelly by committee for as long as it takes his broken hand to heal. And the prospects are not rosy for a return in the near future.

With junior defender Matt Edwards also injured, and sophomore forward Alan Bengtzen twisting his ankle yesterday, Harvard certainly needs all the help it can get.

That means more plays like the second goal yesterday where a sophomore connection of midfielder Nick Lenicheck and forward Jon Oslowski combined to put Harvard ahead 2-1. Lenicheck, who played a very good game, blazed down the left wing and centered a ball for Oslowski, who banged it home.

The team needs these contributions to build its confidence as it prepares to fly to California for games against Stanford and No. 20 Cal-Berkeley before entering the heart of its Ivy schedule.

"More than just [Kelly's] ability, Kelly is a great leader," Steffa said. "We miss his physical presence, his leadership, and his ability to get everyone playing hard."

That brings us back to Steffa's performance. The Huskies knotted the score with a stunning late goal that caught everyone off-guard, including Meagher.