SPONTANEOUS...AND QUIET?

Men's lacrosse Co-Captain Eric Bentley is not the typical Type-A team captain.

"Eric is a very complex person," says his coach, Scott Anderson. "If you don't know him at all, he's a difficult person to understand. But once you get to know him, he's a wonderful person."

Bentley, who hails from Cold Springs Harbor, N.Y., has been described as both "intense and spontaneous" and "quiet."

He plays defense for the 1-5 men's lacrosse team--an often thankless job. But Co-Captain Chad Prusmack describes Bentley ("one of the best defensive players in the country," according to Anderson) as an unflappable Joe Gibbs type.

"I really respect him," Prusmack says. He's a quiet guy on the field, but he'll do something spectacular and that will pick up the team."

But the coach sees it differently.

"Eric's very intense and sort of spontaneous," Anderson says. "He gets very excited when he plays."

Bentley, however, refuses to take a side. Ask him, and he'll just shrug the question off.

"What type of leader I am? I'm just me," Bentley says.

The All-America candidate is questionable against Princeton today because of a hamstring injury suffered Wednesday against Brown, but the Brown game serves as an illustration of how important Bentley is to Harvard's success.

With Bentley in the lineup, the Crimson held the nationally-ranked Bears to five goals in the first half (at halftime, the score was 5-3). But with Bentley out in the second half, Brown scored 14 goals to win 19-6.

"He's very aggressive," Anderson says. "He covers a lot of ground. He has an uncanny ability to take the ball out of the air. It's pretty tough to put the ball near him."

Bentley, however, attributes his prowess less to talent than to effort coupled with a strong desire to win games.

"I play the best that I can and give it my all," Bentley says. "I enjoy the finer pleasures of life...most importantly, winning."

Although the Crimson's season has not been successful so far, Bentley is optimistic. Confidence is the most necessary ingredient for a successful team, he says, and that's what he tries to give to the squad.

His coach agrees.

"When you are trying to build confidence, you have to look at things you can count on and what Eric is going to do during a game is pretty much a given," Anderson says.

Bentley's outlook on the rest of the season fits Anderson's description of his intense playing style.

"We're just going to have to do it game by game," Bentley says. "If we work hard and don't give up, then we'll win."

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Tiger Match: Harvard will play the defending national champions, Princeton, in Princeton starting at 1 p.m.