W. Lacrosse Gets 4th Seed in Tourney

The hardest part about winning an NCAA championship, it seems, is getting through the regular season.

Just ask Chris Webber and the rest of the Michigan basketball team, which sleepwalked through much of its season, only to awaken (well, almost) at NCAA tournament time.

Or ask the Harvard women's lacrosse team, which endured a couple early-season losses and other shaky moments to finally receive one of the six NCAA postseason bids Monday.

Crimson fans might point to the current nine-game winning streak or the seventh straight Ivy League title as proof of another great year, and granted, it was that. But nobody can deny Harvard's difficulties in this long season.

A narrow 10-7 win over Brown two weeks ago, had it gone the other way, could have ended any of Harvard's postseason hopes. Likewise for the season-ending showdown with Dartmouth last week.

Luckily, none of the couldas, shouldas, wouldas will have to be pondered by Harvard fans-yet.

The NCAA seedings committee released its ranking of the top six teams, in this order: Virginia, Maryland, Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth and Penn State.

While the top two teams get byes, the bottom four will slug it out for places in the Final Four. That means that Harvard will play Dartmouth again.

The rematch, which will take place Saturday at 1 p.m. at Ohiri Field, obviously has quite a bit riding on it, but the Crimson remains calm.

"If we play well-if we play our own game-we should be fine," Harvard Coach Carole Kleinfelder said.

Harvard's sangfroid shouldn't be that surprising. This is a team that has carried heavy expectations since the beginning of the season and that has risen to almost every challenge facing it.

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Injuries, Injuries, Injuries: As might be expected at the end of the season, Harvard's roster is dotted with players suffering nagging injuries.

"We have lots of people who are being bothered by leg problems," Co-Captain Rachel Burke said.

At last count, Genevieve Chelius, Sarah Winters, Emily Buxton, Maria Hennessy and Erin Cleary had all fallen victim to some sort of shin injury. None, however, will miss the NCAA playoffs.

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No Justice: Amazingly, Harvard Co-Captain Liz Berkery, who finished as the second-leading scorer in the Ivy League and who is arguably the best player in the Ancient Eight, did not receive a single Player of the Week award all season.

It might seem petty to bring up such trivia now, but the fact is hard to ignore when Sports Illustrated, in its May 3 issue, included Berkery as one of its "Faces in the Crowd."

Good enough for SI, but not for the Ivy League Player of the Week?

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Well, Maybe a Little Justice: Crimson Junior Kelly Morrison was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week last week for her efforts against league-leading scorer Lauren Holleran of Dartmouth.

In the decisive showdown at Ohiri Field last Tuesday, Morrison held Holleran to two goals, including one late in the game when the outcome had already been decided. She also collected five ground balls in contributing to one of Harvard's best defensive games of the season.

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Last Second Tune-Up: Preparations for Saturday's game will be simple and business-like as usual.

The team has the day off today will scrimmage a local club team tomorrow, and then will practice once more Friday afternoon.

The scrimmage tomorrow will be against the Boston Club at Ohiri Field at 6 p.m. NCAA Poll 1. Virginia  13-1 2. Maryland  12-1 3. Princeton  13-2 4. HARVARD  12-2 5. Dartmouth  11-3 6. Penn State  11-4 7. Loyola Md  8-6 8. Old Dminion  8-6 9. Vermont  9-4 10. William & Mary  9-5

IWLCA/Brine Poll (through games of May 2), Also receiving votes: Towson State.

IWLCA/Brine Poll (through games of May 2), Also receiving votes: Towson State.