An Ol' Debt

Linda Bevelander still runs through Carole Kleinfelder's mind

First she cuts right, then back left. By the time Bevelander's through, she's danced 70 yards through a throng of Harvard women's lacrosse players, deposited the ball in the back of the Harvard net and sent the Crimson down to a last minute 7.6 loss a defeat that stands as one of the most disappointing in the squad's history.

"Those who were there all remember," says Crimson Coach Kleintelder "We still remember."

What they all remember most is that dramatic finish to last year's NCAA quarter-final game, which knocked Harvard out of the national championships and sent Beve-lander and the rest of the University of Massachusetts squad on to the NCAA semifinals.

Some, though, remember even more

The Harvard team entered that game in Amherst on an eight game winning streak In fact, the last time the Crimson had lost, the scene had been Amherst the opponent had been the University of Massachusetts and the final score had been the University of Massachusetts and the final score had been 7-6.

Exactly a month later, the Crimson relived that nightmare an the NCAAs.

Now a year later, Harvard's still in pursuit of its first-ever national championship and the University of Massachusetts still stands in the way.

It won't be an NCAA tournament game when the two teams tangle today at 1 p.m on Soldiers Field--the first meeting between the two schools since last year. But with both squads expected to make the 12-team NCAA tourney come May today's show-down could go a long way in determining who gets the upper hand in the light for a higher seeding.

And this time, Harvard Captain Maggie Hart says, things will be different

"I'm looking for revenge," says the Crimson captain, who was there and who remembers both losses all too well

The top two teams in New England a year ago. UMass and Harvard enter today's much-awaited contest in the same positions with the Minutemen still ranked number one and the Crimson number two

More importantly, national rankings are due out Monday

"This game is important simply because it will determine the national Hart says.

But more than revenge, more than national rankings, the Crimson has something to prove. With the five players that turned the Harvard program into one of the nation's premiere teams lost to graduation, many still doubt the Crimson can compete with the Minutemen.

"This game is critical for us," Kleintelder says. "This will really tell us what we're made of."

The Cantabs will tote into the game a 5-1 record that includes a five game winning streak But as Hart admits, "We haven't played very well," mainly because the level of competition hasn't been great.

That'll all change, however, when the highly touted Minutemen ride into town Although much of their season has been wiped out by snow, the Minutemen did snag a mighty big 10-9 victory over UNH, the area's third-ranked team

In command of the Minuteman attack is junior Pam Moryl, who accounted for five of UMass's scores in that win over UNH.

"She's got to be dealt with," admits Kleinfelder, who will assign junior defender Jenny Greeley to the task.

Greeley, back in the saddle after a year's absence, has played well, but Kleintelder acknowledges "this will be her first real test."

With the Harvard offense still only the Maggie Hart & Lisa Black show, the Crimson will once again look to its defense to carry the weight.

"We won't get as many shots off as we did last year." Kleinfelder says of her still young and inexperienced offense, "but our defense is much stronger."

So with Moryl and Greeley spending the day together and the talented UMass offense up against the talented Harvard defense, there shouldn't be much change from last year's two doozeys. Except, of course, for the absence of Kleinfelder's worst nightmare--the graduated Bevelander.

And except because this time. Hart says. "We owe 'em."