It's on to the National Championships For Ivy Champ Netwomen, Laxwomen

Boston University's Nickerson Field is a five-minute jaunt from Harvard.

And for the Harvard women's lacrosse squad, all that's blocking the Bridge to B.U-the site of the 1984 national tournament's Final Four-as a 50-minute detour later this week.

Seeded fourth in the 12-team national tourney, the Ivy champion Crimson squad will meet the winner of the first-round University of Massachusetts-Yale showdown Saturday in The Stadium, with the victor of the 50-minute contest advancing to the Final Four the following weekend.

And with early-season wins over both UMass and Yale already in hand, the Crimson has emerged as a clear favorite to make its first trip to the Final Four in four years.

"This all means it's very possible," an ebullient senior Sarah Sewall said last night of the Crimson's drive for its first-ever national championship. "We can do it."

The laxwomen, who received the first-round bye and the second-round home-field advantage that go to the top four seeded teams, will tote a 12-1 record and a 12-game winning streak into their fourth consecutive national tournament appearance.

And with it, they'll tote their fourth straight Ivy League title.

The Crimson garnered number four Saturday on Soldiers Field, pasting Princeton 13-4. The win ended a perfect 6-0 Ivy campaign and upped the Cantabs' four-year Ivy mark to 22-2.

The impressive win in the regular season finale also silenced the critics who said the 1984 Harvard squad would never match the feats of the 1983 Crimson team that was perhaps the finest in Harvard lax history.

"I said we were going to win the Ivies Captain Maggie Hart said after Saturday win, "and they called me presumptuous.

"And I said we were going to make the Final Four," she added, "and now everything points in that direction."

What's most convincing is the way the Crimson squad has improved ever since a season-opening 9-2 loss at Maryland, the top seed in the NCAA tourney which begins across the country on Wednesday.

At the forefront is Hart, who added five goals on Saturday and who's sure bet to become the Ivy Player of the Year.

At her side are juniors Lisa Black and Claire Farley, who have emerged as legitimate scoring threats on a team whose strength is not the offense.

And that's only because the Crimson boasts one of the strongest defenses this side of Eastern Europe. Junior goalie Krickett Johnson turned on yet another superlative performance on Saturday' thwarting the visiting Tigers' every opportunity.

"We don't play with a lot of finesse. "Harvard Coach Carole, Kleinfeider said after Saturday's championship win. "But we get the job done."

After last night's announcement of the tournament seedings. Kleinfeider said, "We've just go to keep driving."

A win next weekend, and the drive'll be just across the Bridge to B.U. Final 1983 Ivy League Wesnon's Laerance Standings Team  Ivy  Overall MARVARD  6-0  12-1 Yale  5-1  9-5 Pena  4-2  6-6 Dartmouth  2-4  4-9 Princeton  2-4  2-12 Cornell  1-5  6-5 Brown  1-5  4-7