Sophomore midfielder Bryce Weed had as much to do with the Harvard women's soccer Ivy League championship last season as anyone else on the team did.

Weed scored more goals in league play than any other Crimson player and was named a First Team All-Ivy selection in the process.

Not bad for a rookie.

Yet as integral a contributor as she was, Weed was simply surprised to see as much playing time as she did, given the renown surrounding most of her fellow freshman teammates.

"Coming into Harvard, I had no expectations of playing," she said. "I knew I was joining a very talented team with exceptional classmates."

Modest though she is, Weed isn't kidding when it comes to her classmates. Before they ever even donned a Harvard uniform, the Crimson's eight members of the Class of 2003 were ranked the seventh-best recruiting class in the nation by Soccer Buzz magazine. It marked the first time in the history of the program that a group of entering Harvard freshmen had been recognized in such way, and was cause enough to make them each anxious about their place among such a constellation of stars.

"I didn't quite know what I was getting into last season," forward Joey Yenne said. "Obviously, I had hoped to play and contribute right away, but I wasn't exactly sure what to expect."

Needless to say, it did not take them long to figure it out. Last fall, the Crimson's eight rookie phenoms made an indelible impact from the start of the preseason, as half of them won starting jobs. At season's end, all four of those regular starters earned All-Ivy honors, as forwards Yenne and Beth Totman, along with goalkeeper Cheryl Gunther, were named to the team recognition to go along with Weed's selection to the first team.

The other four freshmen provided immeasurable support coming off the bench. As one of the team's top reserves, midfielder Orly Ripmaster notched eight points on the year, including two goals against Cornell that garnered her Ivy Rookie of the Week honors in October. Fullback Katie Urbanic and forward Caitlin Butler each registered points in their rookie campaigns as well, and Amy Cooper competed in seven games as part of a talented corps of midfielders.

From the very beginning, the octet has been every bit the all-star ensemble predicted. Collectively, their high school resumes read like a Who's Who in amateur women's soccer. Among the eight of them are four club soccer stars, three former state players-of-the-year, two U.S. under-18 national team players, and, in Yenne, a player ranked fifth all-time in the national high school soccer annals for most goals in a season (71).

And just how critical were they to the success of last year's team? Consider this: In the one game the freshmen were forced to miss because of extenuating circumstances, Harvard went on to suffer its only regular-season loss of the year. Had the game against New Hampshire not been scheduled on the road during orientation week when Harvard University rules forbid first-years from leaving campus, the 1999 Crimson might well have entered the postseason with an unblemished record.

Regardless, coming into the 2000 season, the prospects appeared limitless given that all eight players would be returning with a year of seasoning under their belts. But before the now-veterans were even able to compete in their first game as sophomores, the events of the preseason have seemed to suggest that they are, well, jinxed.

One of the first casualties this fall was Totman, the team's leading scorer in 1999, who has been out of commission for six weeks now because of stress fractures in both her legs. Though she is still out indefinitely, she will undergo a bone scan on Monday that is two weeks ahead of schedule.

Just as devastating a blow to the Crimson, however, has been the loss of Gunther, last year's Ivy League Rookie Year and the Crimson's most experienced goaltender, who has been sidelined due to bone chips in her knee.

Of all the tribulations, though, the most unfortunate tragedy has befallen Butler, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament in practice the first week of September and will now miss the entire season.