"I want the team to come away from Maryland with a sense that we can stay in any game," Kleinfelder said. "Maryland blew us out last year. They know what it takes to get to the top, and I want our players to feel like we can play with that kind of team."

More important than the non-conference match-up with Maryland, however, is the match with Yale, which has early season Ivy League implications.

With a 5-2 record in 1999, the Bulldogs finished third behind No. 4 Princeton and No. 9 Dartmouth last season. Harvard needs a win against Yale over spring break to have a legitimate chance at finishing amongst the top three teams in the Ivy.

As well, a win over a top-ranked team would likely catapult the Crimson into the national rankings itself.

The Crimson blew a 5-3 halftime lead last season against the Bulldogs en route to a narrow 10-9 defeat, but Harvard has performed much better in close contests this season and has legitimate shot at knocking off the Elis.

Harvard has the momentum entering the contest. Yale barely squeaked by Penn, 10-9 early this week while the Crimson have been rolling.

The Crimson edged Brown 11-10 this week in its Ivy league opener, and erased a late three-goal defecit with four unanswered goals in the final ten minutes to down UMass 7-6 in the season opener.