Stunned Laxwomen Bow out of National Tourney

AMHERST--The dream is over Not even a IKO in the 15th, nor a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth, nor an ace on match point could hurt so much.

For the Harvard women's lacrosse squad, Saturday's last-minute loss to the University of Massachusetts--a loss that knocked the Crimson out of the 1983 NCAA tournament and brought to a close one of the squad's most successful seasons in history--ended its dreams of that first ever national title. And to the stunned laxwomen, nothing could have hurt so much as the way it ended.

The dramatic 7-6 Minuteman tournament quarterfinal win came just after Harvard had erased a 4-1 halftime deficit and had masterfully taken a 6-5 lead with but seven minutes to play. But when the favored UMass squad, seeded fourth in the national tourney (the Crimson was not seeded), tied the score at 6-6 seconds later, it set the stage for some Minuteman heroics and some Crimson hysterics.

With only two minutes remaining. UMass's Linda Bevelander raced 70 yards through throngs of Harvard players and deposited the ball in the Crimson net, handing her talented squad the one-goal win and the Crimson its season-ending loss.

What UMass did before 300 plus partisan spectators in Amherst Saturday was shut down a Harvard attack that after a slow early-season start had finally reached the top of its game Entering the quarterfinal showdown, the Ivy League champion Crimson was riding an eight game winning streak that stretched over one month. The last time the Crimson had lost, the date was April 17, the scene was Amherst, the opponent was the University of Massachusetts and the final score was 7-6 Saturday, exactly a month later, the Crimson relived that nightmare.

And perhaps what hurt most this time was not that this was the last-ever game for the Crimson's highly talented seniors not that the Crimson lost the match after such a gallant comeback bid No. what hurt most was that this year's squad actually thought it could have been national champs and darned if they didn't make you think so, too, if you watched it.

"They're as good as anyone." UMass Coach Pam Hixon said of the Harvard squad. "A few more breaks in their favor and they could very easily be going to Philadelphia."

But instead, it will be UMass (now 12-1-1) which will make its first ever trip to the Final Four next weekend at the University of Pennsylvania With Saturday's quarterfinal win, UMass will join Temple, Penn State and Maryland, the tourney's top three seeds, in the showdown for the national title.

For Harvard, its third one goal loss of the year put its final record at 12-4-1 and marked the end of the collegiate careers of seniors Francesca DenHartog, Maureen Finn, Jennifer White, Kate Martin and Jeanne Piersiak. In four years, that quintet brought Crimson lacrosse from a fledgling program to national recognition.

"We have nothing to be ashamed of," an extremely disappointed Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder said afterwards. "Sure, this is a tough way to go out, but I told them they had accomplished so much already."

Not even that thought, however, could compensate for the frustration the laxwomen felt after Saturday's game. The match, which brought together the nation's top-rated defensive club in UMass and the nation's second-rated offensive club in Harvard, turned into a defensive brawl, something which Harvard had wanted to avoid.

Effectively using both a zone and man-to-man defense, the Minutemen shut down Harvard's big guns. DenHartog and Finn. With those All-Americans double-covered for much of the afternoon, the Crimson could muster little offense, especially in the first half.

In fact, Harvard couldn't manage to score until Jennifer White sneaked one past UMass goalie Rita Hubner with just 3:52 remaining in the first half, tying the score at 1-1. But three quick Minuteman tallies--including two in the final 30 seconds-put the Crimson on the short end of a 4-1 halftime score.

"We knew we had to jump out to a lead," Hixon said. "We have a tendency against Harvard to jump out to a lead and then lose it. We knew it would be only a matter of time before they started coming back."

And with DenHartog moved to center and with its new man to man defense. Harvard did start coming back, taking control of the game right from the start of the second half. Using an inspired passing game, the Crimson managed four unanswered goals in the first eight minutes of the second stanza, en route to a 5-4 lead.

The two clubs then traded goals UMass's by Patrica Stevens to tie the score at 5-5 with 15:57 left and Harvard's by Lisa Black with just 7:51 to put Harvard on top again, 6-5.

But as soon as Black had scored, UMass answered, with Stevens tallying again just 21 seconds later. That goal put the score at 6-6.

"That goal by Stevens really hurt us." Kleinfelder said." We had just taken the lead and had the momentum. Then we lost it."

And while Harvard was missing several scoring opportunities and committing several key fouls. UMass was priming itself for Bevelander's rush.

"We knew Linda had been open all day." Hixon said afterwards. "It was just a matter of telling the team to get it to her and letting her go with it."

When Bevelander did get it, she weaved through the entire Crimson squad, miraculously hanging onto the ball and somehow ditching it past Crimson netminder Sally Degan, all with just 2:03 left.

"I was fascinated that I could do that." Bevelander said afterwards. "All I heard was my coach screaming go to goal and I did I still can't believe it."

The Minutemen then effectively used a stall to keep the ball away from the Crimson in the final two minutes. When Maggie Hart's desperation shot rolled far short as the horn sounded. UMass had its biggest triumph of the year.

"We made too many mistakes to win." Kleinfelder said. "We knew what to do and we just didn't do it."

THE NOTEBOOK: Kleinfelder lauded the play of Hart and defender Trina Burnham... After the game, the squad elected Lilli Pew and Hart next year's co-captains. In other quarterfinal action Saturday. Temple stopped Princeton, 16-6, Penn State toppled Penn, 12-2, and Maryland dumped Delaware.