“[Liza] draws your eye, and Alisha does [as well] with her speed,” said Wheaton. “Falyne has been an incredible leader, and Emily has scored a bunch of goals for us. They make it clear to their teammates what being a team member means. Leadership is everything. [The seniors] have been great.”

Of course, the experienced quartet of players didn’t win the game for the Crimson without help from their teammates.

Shields made four saves in recording her fifth shutout of the season, as Harvard controlled play to the tune of a 20-4 advantage in shots. Barber worked with freshman back Michelle Hull and sophomore back Laura Odorczyk to shut down any offensive opportunities for the Lions before they had a chance to materialize.

“I think defense reveals a team character, because it’s about teamwork and focus and discipline,” said Wheaton. “I’m really proud of them.”

On the offensive side, Colvin, Moran, Sedgwick, Greenwald and sophomore midfielder Katie Johnston continually peppered the Columbia net with shots, while Tavepholjalern, Chave and Merritt helped control the ball in the midfield for the Crimson.

“We weren’t winning any 50-50 balls [against Dartmouth] last week,” said Moran. “We worked on it in practice and won many more [this week].”

With its regular season over, Moran says that the team will practice on Monday and then will gather together to listen to the 2004 NCAA Tournament selection show in order to find out if Harvard has received an at-large bid for postseason play.

While the team has only an outside shot for a playoff berth, the Crimson has shown that it can compete with the best teams in the nation. Harvard defeated then-No. 25 Connecticut this season and lost by just a single goal to then-No. 4 Penn State, then-No. 6 Portland and then-No. 9 Princeton.

—Staff writer Jonathan P. Hay can be reached at hay@fas.harvard.edu.