Positive Thinking

When I asked co-captain of the Harvard women's lacrosse team-Genevieve Chelius, in March if her team was going to go undefeated, her response was swift.

"Hell yeah!" she declared in an of-course-you-silly-reporter tone of voice.

In truth, I would have been surprised if she had said anything else. This is the Harvard women's lacrosse team we're talking about, and these players have a different outlook on life.

They go into each game knowing either that they ought to win or that they will have a close, tough game on their hands. But under no circumstances do these laxers believe that they will lose--or even that they probably will lose. Along with the men's hockey team and the squash teams, the women's lacrosse team is the most self-confident squad at Harvard.

Chelius' prediction, however, has not come true. The Crimson is 5-3 at the moment--only 1-2 in the Ivy League and still waiting to face league-leading Dartmouth--and is mired at No. 11 in the country.

Of course, the Harvard women's lacrosse team is the only one that could be mired at that ranking, because of its illustrious history. A national championship in 1990 and seven straight appearances in the six-team NCAA Tournament come to mind.

But this year, that streak is on life-support. Harvard would have to jump up five spots, which is a lot to ask in less than two weeks. Two of the Crimson's losses won't hurt its chances too much--a 14-4 defeat last weekend to No. 1 Maryland and a early 10-5 loss at the hands of No. 2 Princeton--but the third, a close 10-9 loss to a fired-up No. 9 Yale, really makes the playoffs difficult.

On the other side of the coin, the only Top-10 team Harvard has beaten is No. 7 Loyola (who lost to No. 12 Virginia on Tuesday), 6-5 in overtime.

Does any of this get the laxwomen down? Nope. Listen to sophomore defender Mary Eileen Duffy on the Sunday after the Maryland loss:

"I'd love to play [Maryland] again," she said. "[To win] we'd have to have everyone on the field playing their very best."

Implied but unsaid was, Still, I know we can win.

Hey, this is the Harvard women's lacrosse, the team that isn't supposed to lose.

Is such a belief justifiable? Well, in the two blowout losses Harvard's play was very, very off compared to its other games, and in rematches the scores certainly would have been closer, if not with a different winner.

The big question is, though, which are the anomalies? Are they the losses, or are they the Crimson's big wins, such as a 19-4 bombardment of Penn or a 12-2 win over B.C.? Was the first half of the UNH game the "real" Harvard, when it played poorly and had an unimpressive 8-6 lead, or was it the second half, when the Crimson took over and outscored the Wildcats 8-4?

Strangely enough, it seems that Harvard's is indeed capable of consistently being one of the best in the nation for the simple reason that the team is so sure of its talents. In the Loyola win, for example, the Crimson fell behind quickly to the Greyhounds, 4-0.

Did the players get down or depressed? Hey, we're Harvard. We ARE the best. The Crimson closed the gap to one by the end of the first half, and went on to win in overtime.

This is a testament to the power of positive thinking. A team of a lesser psychological stature would have broken after Loyola scored its fourth or fifth goal. But not the Crimson.

Will Harvard make the NCAA Tournament? Don't bet the ranch on it. But does it have a chance?

Hell yeah.