Having created room in the tournament for three new teams, the CWPA scrapped its old, reliable tournament configuration and instituted a bizarre round-robin setup in its place.

The arrangement forced Harvard, seeded fourth in the tournament by virtue of its league record, to play one game more than fifth-seeded Brown in order to qualify. Harvard had to play an extra game against a capable Iona squad, knowing that the rested Bears would be waiting on the other side.

The Crimson approached the scheduling quirk the way as just another obstacle. Why not? For this bunch, after all, such adversity was just another day at the office.

Earlier in the season, Harvard was forced to play critical league games in a shallow Iona pool that more closely resembled a wading pool than an Olympic-caliber facility. Junior netminder Gresham Bayne has played the entire year with what looks like a bionic arm, after an injury last season nearly ruined his playing career.

And this past weekend, the other half of Harvard's spectacular goalkeeping combo, sophomore Paul Tselentis, sat out the clinching games after recovering from a frightening seizure.

Having experienced setbacks like these, the schedule's unfairness was just another challenge to overcome.

Perhaps, then, Harvard was simply due for the good news that came their way after it clinched. As the fourth seed, Harvard will play the Southern Champion in the first round of Easterns.