FALL SPORTS PREVIEW

The 1998 Harvard women's soccer team will likely fall short of many people's expectations. But few teams in the nation would not want to be in their position.

The Crimson will have to learn how to re-integrate one of the nation's best players, co-captain Emily Stauffer, into an offense that proved it could thrive without her; how to top the season of a life-time with one for the ages; in short, how to put its money where its press is.

The three-time defending Ivy League champion will be expected to add a fourth notch to its belt. The team that shocked everyone but itself in reaching the final eight of the NCAA Tournament before succumbing to perennial champion North Carolina will be expected to make it at least as far in 1998. And Stauffer, who took last fall semester off to spend time with her family, will be expected to make a seamless transition from civilian to field general.

Theirs is surely an enviable challenge.

"The only concern I have is the hype," said Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton, who enters his 12th season at the helm. "You can't believe your press. It can hurt you two ways: You can be complacent because you read it--but I don't think that will happen with this team--or you can be too hard on yourself. We've got to go out and play every day."

How deep is this team? Its roster froths with talent--10 former All-Ivy selections will suit up for the Crimson this season, including the last two winners of the league's top accolade. Senior forward Naomi Miller earned Ivy Player of the Year honors last season after leading the team with six goals and 11 assists in the regular season.

Miller was merely picking up where her teammate Stauffer left off. Stauffer, an All-America midfielder whose two assists on Friday against the University of New Hampshire (UNH) made her Harvard's all-time assist leader (27), was the 1995 and 1996 Player of the Year.

"We're really strong all around the field, and we have a great bench," said co-captain Devon Bingham. "When people come off the bench, it doesn't change the level of play."

Harvard's biggest strength may lie in its formidable midfield, the glue to this talented offense. Stauffer rejoins the team after a trying year in which she took a semester off to spend time with her ailing brother, who lost a two-and-a-half year battle with leukemia in January.

She never lost touch with the team--occasionally serving as a volunteer assistant coach--and took just over three minutes to announce her return, scoring an unassisted goal 3:31 into the 3-0 win over UNH.

"I started playing again in the spring, and all summer long that's all I did," said Stauffer, a two-time finalist for the Missouri Athletic Conference Collegiate Player of the Year award. "I'm just thrilled to be back. This is the most fun I've had in a long time."

Joining Stauffer in the midfield is Bingham, a First-Team All-Ivy selection who finished second on the team in scoring (14 points) and assists (eight) last season. Junior Ashley Berman will look to improve on her Honorable Mention All-Ivy season of a year ago, and sophomore Meredith Stewart and junior Julia Blain should see significant time as well.

Despite the losses of Lindsay Minkus '98, Keren Gudeman '98 and sophomore Erin Aeschliman, who is taking the year off, the team should continue to be strong up front.

Miller's powerful legs, which helped her lead the league in scoring last season, should continue to pace the Crimson offense. With another outstanding year, Miller could become just the 11th player in league history to be voted First-Team All-Ivy four times. Junior Beth Zotter, a Second-Team All-Ivy pick in 1997, should fill the other starting spot at forward.

Senior goaltender Jennifer Burney, who two season ago was voted the best keeper in theIvies and who posted an outstanding .793 savepercentage and 1.21 goals-against-average lastseason, is the back-up on this team. The starter,junior Anne Browning, is coming off a stellarseason in which she gave up just 0.64 goals pergame in 11 contests. The third-string goalie,senior Meredith Bagley, would start on many teams.

Browning and Burney split time between theposts last season, but Wheaton said Browning isthe starter for now.

"We have absolute faith in all ourgoalkeepers." Wheaton said.

An outstanding defense returns to help makeBrowning's job as easy as possible.

Junior sweeper Jessica Larson and junior backGina Foster return from All-Ivy seasons--Fosterwas actually sixth on the team in scoring,and Wheaton welcomes back a reasonably healthyJaime Chu, who suffered season-ending kneeinjuries in each of the last two years.

"I wouldn't say I'm 100 percent yet," Chu said."I definitely need to play a little bit more toget my touch on the ball. [But] I'm psyched to beback."

Senior backs Brynne Zuccaro and Ashley Marynickare veterans who should also receive ample playingtime.

When the enormous depth of this team comes intofocus, the No. 5 preseason ranking Harvardreceived from Soccer Buzz magazine does notlook overly optimistic. Indeed, the moreconservative No. 19 spot the Crimson holds in theNational College Soccer Association of America(NCSAA)/Umbro poll seems a possible slight.

Harvard will have ample opportunity to justifyits billing, as the team faces a tough schedulethat includes three team faces a tough schedulethat includes three teams currently ranked in theNSCAA/Umbro poll as well as the traditionallystrong Ivy teams.

"We're really excited about how much talent wehave this year, but we're humbled by ourschedule," Stauffer said. "If we don't play ourhardest and exploit all of our strengths to theabsolute fullest, we may not win every game."

Any league loss could prove costly. Dartmouth,Penn and Yale all challenged for the Ivy Leaguecrown a year ago, and the Ivy race should be tightagain. It went down to the wire last season, asHarvard sealed the title by following its loneloss, 3-2 in overtime to Yale, with five straightvictories.

"We should improve and do better than lastyear, but I also think other teams who used tothink we weren't as good are kind of watching outfor us now," said a cautious Miller.

This season, with the NCAA Tournament expandedfrom 32 to 48 teams, the lvy League may well seemultiple entries into the tournament field.

Although its focus remains an Ancient Eighttitle, Harvard could still find itself playing inthe postseason even without a fourth straight lvyring. Once there, the sky is the limit.

"We not only have depth in ability but depth inattitude," Wheaton said. "When it comes to thoseneck-and-neck battles, that kind of team bondingand cohesiveness can really put you over the top."

"My expectations are unlimited for us,"Stauffer said. "I think we have so much talent;it's just a matter of what we make of it."WOMEN'S SOCCER

LAST SEASON

13-4-2, 6-1 Ivy, NCAA Quarterfinals

COACH

Tim Wheaton, 12th year

CAPTAINS

Devon Bingham; Emily Stauffer

KEY RETURNERS

Senior M Devon Bingham; Junior G Anne Browning;Senior B Gina Foster; Senior F Naomi Miller;Senior M Emily Stauffer

KEY LOSSES

F Keren Gudeman; F Lindsay Minkus; F ErinAeschliman

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"I think we can play with anybody in thecountry."  --Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton

OUTLOOK

The force runs deep with this team, who returnsone of the nation's best players in co-captainEmily Stauffer to a squad that won itsthird-straight lvy title and reached thequarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 1997. Theexpectations are enormous entering 1998--everyoneon this team knows they came two goals shy ofhanding North Carolina its fifth loss in 12 yearslast season--but the talent is there, both withthe starters and the bench. Harvard returns anoutstanding keeper, and may have the league's twobest players in Miller and Stauffer, who showedshe was back with a goal and two assists in theseason opener. The Crimson could go deep into theNCAAs.

W. SOCCER SCHEDULEHOME GAMES IN CAPS)

DATE  OPPONENT9/11  UNH, W 3-09/13  PENN STATE, L 2-19/16  Hartford9/19  Columbia9/22  BOSTON COLLEGE9/26  YALE9/29  BOSTON UNIVERSITY10/3  Penn10/10  CORNELL10/16  NORTHEASTERN10/18  GEORGE MASON10/21  CONNECTICUT10/24  Princeton10/27  Vermont10/31  DARTMOUTH11/7  BROWN

CrimsonMelissa K. CrockerRETURN OF THE HOLY ONE: Harvardco-captain EMILY STAUFFER (23) shows off thefancy footwork that helped make her a two-time IvyLeague Player of the Year and an All-Americaselection. She returns to anchor the Harvardmidfield following a one-season hiatus.

Browning and Burney split time between theposts last season, but Wheaton said Browning isthe starter for now.

"We have absolute faith in all ourgoalkeepers." Wheaton said.

An outstanding defense returns to help makeBrowning's job as easy as possible.

Junior sweeper Jessica Larson and junior backGina Foster return from All-Ivy seasons--Fosterwas actually sixth on the team in scoring,and Wheaton welcomes back a reasonably healthyJaime Chu, who suffered season-ending kneeinjuries in each of the last two years.

"I wouldn't say I'm 100 percent yet," Chu said."I definitely need to play a little bit more toget my touch on the ball. [But] I'm psyched to beback."

Senior backs Brynne Zuccaro and Ashley Marynickare veterans who should also receive ample playingtime.

When the enormous depth of this team comes intofocus, the No. 5 preseason ranking Harvardreceived from Soccer Buzz magazine does notlook overly optimistic. Indeed, the moreconservative No. 19 spot the Crimson holds in theNational College Soccer Association of America(NCSAA)/Umbro poll seems a possible slight.

Harvard will have ample opportunity to justifyits billing, as the team faces a tough schedulethat includes three team faces a tough schedulethat includes three teams currently ranked in theNSCAA/Umbro poll as well as the traditionallystrong Ivy teams.

"We're really excited about how much talent wehave this year, but we're humbled by ourschedule," Stauffer said. "If we don't play ourhardest and exploit all of our strengths to theabsolute fullest, we may not win every game."

Any league loss could prove costly. Dartmouth,Penn and Yale all challenged for the Ivy Leaguecrown a year ago, and the Ivy race should be tightagain. It went down to the wire last season, asHarvard sealed the title by following its loneloss, 3-2 in overtime to Yale, with five straightvictories.

"We should improve and do better than lastyear, but I also think other teams who used tothink we weren't as good are kind of watching outfor us now," said a cautious Miller.

This season, with the NCAA Tournament expandedfrom 32 to 48 teams, the lvy League may well seemultiple entries into the tournament field.

Although its focus remains an Ancient Eighttitle, Harvard could still find itself playing inthe postseason even without a fourth straight lvyring. Once there, the sky is the limit.

"We not only have depth in ability but depth inattitude," Wheaton said. "When it comes to thoseneck-and-neck battles, that kind of team bondingand cohesiveness can really put you over the top."

"My expectations are unlimited for us,"Stauffer said. "I think we have so much talent;it's just a matter of what we make of it."WOMEN'S SOCCER

LAST SEASON

13-4-2, 6-1 Ivy, NCAA Quarterfinals

COACH

Tim Wheaton, 12th year

CAPTAINS

Devon Bingham; Emily Stauffer

KEY RETURNERS

Senior M Devon Bingham; Junior G Anne Browning;Senior B Gina Foster; Senior F Naomi Miller;Senior M Emily Stauffer

KEY LOSSES

F Keren Gudeman; F Lindsay Minkus; F ErinAeschliman

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"I think we can play with anybody in thecountry."  --Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton

OUTLOOK

The force runs deep with this team, who returnsone of the nation's best players in co-captainEmily Stauffer to a squad that won itsthird-straight lvy title and reached thequarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 1997. Theexpectations are enormous entering 1998--everyoneon this team knows they came two goals shy ofhanding North Carolina its fifth loss in 12 yearslast season--but the talent is there, both withthe starters and the bench. Harvard returns anoutstanding keeper, and may have the league's twobest players in Miller and Stauffer, who showedshe was back with a goal and two assists in theseason opener. The Crimson could go deep into theNCAAs.

W. SOCCER SCHEDULEHOME GAMES IN CAPS)

DATE  OPPONENT9/11  UNH, W 3-09/13  PENN STATE, L 2-19/16  Hartford9/19  Columbia9/22  BOSTON COLLEGE9/26  YALE9/29  BOSTON UNIVERSITY10/3  Penn10/10  CORNELL10/16  NORTHEASTERN10/18  GEORGE MASON10/21  CONNECTICUT10/24  Princeton10/27  Vermont10/31  DARTMOUTH11/7  BROWN

CrimsonMelissa K. CrockerRETURN OF THE HOLY ONE: Harvardco-captain EMILY STAUFFER (23) shows off thefancy footwork that helped make her a two-time IvyLeague Player of the Year and an All-Americaselection. She returns to anchor the Harvardmidfield following a one-season hiatus.

DATE  OPPONENT9/11  UNH, W 3-09/13  PENN STATE, L 2-19/16  Hartford9/19  Columbia9/22  BOSTON COLLEGE9/26  YALE9/29  BOSTON UNIVERSITY10/3  Penn10/10  CORNELL10/16  NORTHEASTERN10/18  GEORGE MASON10/21  CONNECTICUT10/24  Princeton10/27  Vermont10/31  DARTMOUTH11/7  BROWN

CrimsonMelissa K. CrockerRETURN OF THE HOLY ONE: Harvardco-captain EMILY STAUFFER (23) shows off thefancy footwork that helped make her a two-time IvyLeague Player of the Year and an All-Americaselection. She returns to anchor the Harvardmidfield following a one-season hiatus.