As it has every season since 1999, the story of field hockey in the Ivy League hinged on the fate of those dreaded Tigers on the Turnpike.

But on the afternoon of Oct. 4, 2003, all that had a chance to change.

In a decisive meeting between the last of the Ancient Eight’s unbeatens, then-No. 8 Princeton and then-No. 15 Harvard locked horns at Jordan Field to decide whether a shift in the entrenched conference hierarchy would occur. The Tigers had been unbeaten in 29 straight Ivy League games, a dominating stretch which spanned nearly half a decade.

Unfortunately, however, it would only continue to stay that way.

Despite a last-second goal by sophomore midfielder Jen McDavitt, the streak ultimately claimed victim No. 30. For the Crimson, McDavitt’s slick tally was too little, too late in the 3-2 loss. It was game over—and, as the team would find out weeks later, season over.

“It’s disappointing,” tri-captain midfielder Kate McDavitt said after that critical game. “We had our opportunities, our shots on goal, and they just weren’t going in. It’s frustrating. We gave everything we could possibly give at the end.”

The Tigers went on to roll over its remaining Ivy opponent, Penn, to clinch the conference crown and the Ivy League’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament for yet another year. On the other hand, Harvard retained hopes for an at-large bid but finished 2-1 in its last three games to close the year, the loss coming controversially against Dartmouth in overtime. Its two other wins to end the season, however, were shutouts.

“We definitely are a very big bubble team,” tri-captain Jen Ahn said after the last game of the season, a 3-0 blanking of Columbia. “We had to come out strong and play a great game.”

But, in spite of its ultimately healthy résumé, Crimson field hockey finished No. 18 in the final polls and was squeezed out of the at-large pool, failing to make the tournament’s field of 16.

Notably, Harvard had made the tournament in 2002 in that very fashion, and the 2003 season certainly had the makings of a playoff run as well.

The team beat ranked opponents Connecticut and Boston College and lost to no teams outside of the top 20 in the country save Dartmouth in that overtime loss. In fact, the Crimson lost to only one team by a margin larger than one goal, a 5-1 defeat at the hands of reigning No. 3 Maryland early in September.

But the reason it even got that close was due to some phenomenal and historic play from its graduating class.

Kate McDavitt overcame initial injury troubles to lead the team in goals, while fellow tri-captain back Jen Ahn completed a stellar defensive campaign that garnered her elite first-team All-America status, a first in Harvard history. Tri-captain goalie Katie Zacarian, meanwhile, became Harvard’s all-time shutout leader with 24, aided by a stingy backfield that featured Ahn and long-time starting senior back Diana Bowen. Fellow seniors forward Mina Pell and midfielder Liz Andrews finished one-two in the team’s overall point totals to round out a stellar class of 2004.

In the end, Harvard’s postseason aspirations may have all ended on that one afternoon in October, but the story of field hockey in Cambridge and around the Ivy League got a lot more interesting. And maybe next year, Harvard could add to that tale.

—Staff writer Pablo S. Torre can be reached at torre@fas.harvard.edu.