The meet will now feature a round-robin format with three divisions. Harvard is in the same division as Fordham, the US Merchant Marine Academy, and No. 13 UMass.
Harvard's task is daunting, considering three earlier losses to the Minutemen this year. Additionally, a scheduling quirk makes it necessary for Harvard, the No. 4 seed, to play more games than the 5th or 6th seeds in order to make the top four, thereby qualifying for the Eastern Championships.
"The idea is to just beat UMass," Floerchinger said. "That way, we make it out of our group undisputed. We're looking forward to it."
Harvard's first game is at 11:30 am on Saturday. If, as expected, Harvard and UMass each win their tournament openers, their much-anticipated showdown will happen at 4:30 pm at Blodgett.