A Changing Of the Guard

Every year, the sports seasons are marked by wins and losses. The fans remember the Yale football game or the Beanpot results, and this year was no different. No one will forget the memorable goal-line stands that spurred the football team to a 14-0 win in The Game at The Stadium. Nor will anyone soon forget the image of Ted Drury skating around the Boston Garden, holding the Beanpot, with that wide-eyed-seven-year-old-Christmas-Day grin melting the Garden ice.

But this past sports year was characterized more by change than by results. Long after the wins and losses are forgotten, long after the trophies are locked away in some hidden case, the old familiar faces that left the Harvard community--as well as the new vibrant faces that gave life to sputtering programs--will be remembered.

1992-93 will be the year that football coach Joe Restic announced his retirement. The year that Stephen Locker gave life to a dormant men's soccer program. And the year that many dominant athletes walked, ran, and skated away from the sports community.

Of course, some things stayed the same. The squash programs maintained their stranglehold over the rest of the nation. And the women's lacrosse team made its 11th NCAA tournament appearance.

But ultimately, 1992-93 will be remembered as the end of many old eras. And the beginning of many new ones.

Locker Soccer

September 27, 1992

Former coach Mike Getman was out. New coach Stephen Locker was in. And Harvard soccer was back--back to its mid-1980s form.

On this brisk fall day Yale was in town, bringing with it a top-20 ranking. The Bulldogs had owned this game while the Crimson was mired down in mediocrity during the Getman era. Harvard hadn't won since 1988.

But times were changing. It was time for a new era to begin. Harvard had won its first two games and the fans began to believe.

Ohiri Field was packed as the new coach led his team into battle. The fans watched anxiously as the teams traded goals in regulation. They nervously cheered as the teams remained locked in overtime, seemingly destined to end the game in a tie.

But then came the goal.

There was 1:24 left in OT. While the recent teams of Harvard past would have settled for a tie, this Crimson team staved on the attack. Sophomore sensation Derek Swaim received a return pass from freshman Chris Wojcil, and unloaded a cannon that found the back of the net.

A 2-1 victory for Harvard. The end of the losing streak against Yale. And the beginning of a new era--"Locker Soccer" had been born

A 2-1 victory for Harvard. The end of the losing streak against Yale. And the beginning of a new era--"Locker Soccer" had been born