Columbia lost a closer-than-expected 3-1 contest to Princeton earlier in the year. It has picked up the pace from that point, and is currently riding a three-game Ivy winning streak.

Last week, the Lions captured their most convincing conference win ever, a 5-1 triumph over Penn.

"I thought they were good last year," said Harvard Coach Sue Caples. "And they've only continued to improve."

Perhaps some of that improvement can be attributed to a certain Harvard alum. Anya Cowan '00, an all-conference selection in net last season, now works part-time with Columbia's Molly Starsia-Lasagna.

The Lion keeper has helped a once-porous defense clamp down and allow just 2.35 goals per Ivy outing in 2000--good for fourth in the conference. Still, she almost half the shots fired her way reach the back of the net. She probably represents Columbia's weakest link.

Cowan will watch the game from the Columbia sideline tomorrow and in that respect, the match will pit Harvard's recent past against its future. Freshman Katie Zacarian has more than lived up to the lofty expectations that surrounded her arrival in Cambridge and insertion into the starting lineup.

She has blanked Crimson opponents on six occasions, recording the most shutouts by a Harvard goalkeeper since Juliet Lamont '82 tallied nine. Her 0.97 goals allowed average and save percentage are second in the Ivy League to Princeton's Kelly Barril.