Fortunately for the Crimson, it can’t get much tougher.

Faced with the daunting task of opening its 2004 season against No. 6 Portland and No. 4 Penn State in the UConn Adidas Classic, Harvard (1-3-0) hit the road last weekend.

After two close decisions left the Crimson winless, the squad headed to the George Mason Invitational and grabbed its first victory from the hosting Patriots before a loss to William & Mary gave Harvard a weekend split.

WILLIAM & MARY 1, HARVARD 0

Harvard found itself on the short end of a one goal decision for the third time in four games Saturday when it dropped a heartbreaker to William & Mary at the George Mason Invitational.

The Crimson came out firing, holding a 7-1 shooting advantage and a 5-0 corner kick difference in the first period.

But after 86 minutes of scoreless play, all it took was one shot. Tribe forward Anna Pawlow launched a blast into the top left corner of the net on an assist from teammate Brittany Bode. The junior’s second career goal gave William & Mary just the advantage it would need as Harvard was unable to respond, despite outshooting the Tribe 11-6 in the matchup.

“It was so frustrating to see it come down to that,” said senior midfielder Alisha Moran. “To lose it in 10 minutes—we’re all familiar with that feeling and it wasn’t a good one.”

Junior goalkeeper Katie Shields made four saves in the outing, but saw her record drop to 0-3.

HARVARD 2, GEORGE MASON 0

The Crimson notched its first victory at the George Mason Invitational against the hosting Patriots on Thursday.

Less than 17 minutes into play, senior forward Emily Colvin gave Harvard its first lead of the season with a rocket to the top left corner from 15 yards out. Junior forward Sara Sedgwick and freshman midfielder Megan Merritt recorded the assists.

In the second period, sophomore midfielder Liz Lima set up classmate Katie Johnston with a through ball to the left side. Johnston sent the ball to the back of the net to increase the Crimson’s lead to two.