Comparison of a Collapse

Saturday’s win over Columbia kept Harvard from duplicating its 12-15, 4-10 Ivy finish from three years ago, but the parallels between the two seasons remained undeniable. The 2002-03 team had a strong core of upperclassmen, led by captain Brady Merchant, Pat Harvey and Elliot Prasse-Freeman, who expected to lead Harvard into competition for the league title, much as captain Matt Stehle, Brian Cusworth and Mike Beal formed the nucleus of the 2005-06 team, the preseason pick to finish second in the league.

Both squads got off to strong starts, going 8-5 in non-conference play and sweeping Dartmouth to enter the heart of the season 10-5.

Those high expectations soon gave way to bitter disappointment. The 2002-03 team began its slide by dropping a tough game at Princeton, the start of a four-game road losing streak that doomed the Crimson. This year’s team fared better on the road, taking two of three and a 4-1 record to Cornell. On that fateful night in Ithaca, Harvard lost a late lead in the closing seconds, triggering an eight-game losing streak.

Both teams lost eight of their final 10, with the only two wins coming against Columbia. There were memorable performances along the way—Merchant’s team-record 45 points in the season ending loss to Brown, and Matt Stehle’s 28 points, 15 rebounds, and seven steals in the home loss to Penn—but neither captain could prevent the painful end of postseason dreams.

“It’s eerily similar, for sure,” said coach Frank Sullivan after Friday’s loss to Cornell. “The interesting dynamic is that the current upperclassmen observed that [as freshmen]. It’s something they knew about and watched. In this segment of games, though, there have been a lot more heartbreaking losses than there were during that segment. It’s quite similar, and it’s discouraging for the guys that were involved in it.”

—CALEB W. PEIFFER