“We dug ourselves a hole early on,” Crimson captain Kenny Smith said. “You can’t spot a team like [Cornell] a lead—they’re too good, and it’s too difficult to come back after that.”

Smith was right. Despite a strong effort in the second and third, Harvard was not able to come back against Cornell. And so the Crimson heads into its extended exam period break at 8-9-2 overall, and is in desperate need of some form of catalyst.

Gone, realistically, are thoughts of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Gone, most likely, is a first-round bye in the ECAC playoffs. But thoughts of postseason play should be removed from Harvard’s thought process. Before anything else, the Crimson needs to find a way to start winning games. The talent is there, undeniably, but the intensity is there only occasionally, in fits and in starts.

Harvard has a long way to go if it’s to salvage its season, but the toughest part will be getting that first big win of the second half. It could come against Brown during intersession, or versus BC at the Beanpot, or at Bright against Dartmouth in the last days of February. Once Harvard has that in hand, who knows?

Since I, somewhat negatively, began this column quoting one of the legends of football writing, it is fitting to conclude it, positively I hope, with a quote from a legend of football coaching.

“It’s easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you’re a winner, when you’re number one,” Vince Lombardi said. “What you’ve got to have is faith and discipline when you’re not yet a winner.”

—Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald can be reached at tmcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.