A Different Sport, A Different Story

Carole Kleinfelder has taken a lot of flak recently over her performance as the Harvard women's basketball coach, but to anyone who has followed her career as womens lacrosse coach, these criticisms are surprising.

On the gusty pitch behind the ITT. Kleinfelder and her assistants have built a nationally ranked lacrosse program that puts fear into the hearts and hesitation into the sticks of opposing teams from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania to South Carolina.

While leading her charges to a 54 25-1 record over the past four years, a mark that includes Ivy and Eastern championships and a fourth-place finish in Division One last year. Kleinfelder has distinguished herself as one of the country's pre-eminent women's lacrosse coaches and instructors.

Echoing the sentiments of those who have played on this year's squad, co-Captain Charlotte Worsley said recently. "She's one of the best coaches in the country. She gets along real well with the team. And we really appreciate having someone like Carole as our coach."

Harvard's number-one ranking in this weekend's Eastern AIAW Championships, which will be played at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, is just one more obvious indication of Kleinfelder's and her team's prowess, and it is in the Easterns rather than in the realm of speculation and accusation that the laxwomen prefer to concentrate their energies.

Saturday morning, the Crimson, the tourney's defending champion, will seek to avenge Tuesday's 8-7 loss to Yale, facing the fourth-seeded Elis in what amounts to the semifinals of this weekend's tournament. The winner of this four-team playoff will travel to West Chester State College outside of Phally to compete in the Nationals May 13, 14, and 15.

Brown and UNH--two teams that the Crimson has handled with relative case in the past--face off in the other semifinal. The winner of each half of the draw will compete in Sunday afternoon's final.

For the Crimson, however, the possibility of Sunday's final and a second straight trip to the Nationals is not even a consideration. The snarling Bulldogs, who snatched away at least half of the Crimson's Ivy title last Tuesday, remain the laxwomen's main concern.

"We just have to get our act together," said Worsley. "If we go out and play our best things should be fine."

We've been doing a lot of scrimmaging," she continued. "Carole told us that she's taught the team everything she can teach us for this year. Now it's up to us to perfect the stuff we learned."

The word "perfect" is indicative of what Worsley described as her coach's high standards"--the same standards that have brought Harvard and its women's lacrosse team national recognition, respect and admiration.