Notes

At the time that Harvard lost its regular-season meeting with Hartford back on Oct. 31, the defeat appeared to severely hurt the Crimson's chances at a tournament bid, especially since Harvard went on to lose its next game against Columbia later that week.

But according to an NCAA official who attended Saturday's game, Harvard's decision to play Hartford at all after the game was cancelled because of lightning on Sept. 19 played favorably in the minds of the selection committee when it was considering Harvard's case.

Since the game had no league implications for either team, it was not necessary to make the game up, especially with the only available date in the middle of the Crimson's toughest stretch of the season.

But Harvard chose to play the game anyway, and that gutsy decision apparently did not go unnoticed by the NCAA committee.

The Crimson won Saturday in spite of playing before a hostile home crowd that included a quirky Hartford professor known as the "Hartford Superfan," who toted pompons and a megaphone in an attempt to whip the Hawks' crowd into a frenzy.

When he first appeared in the game's 60th minute, the Hawks were seriously threatening the Crimson's 1-0 lead, the crowd was energized, and his "We want offense!" calls were warmly received.

But the Crimson eventually succeeded in quieting the Superfan. Once Yenne's goal put the game out of reach, he was reduced to hopelessly chanting, "We need a miracle." With many of the Hartford fans in the process of leaving, participation was significantly lacking.