Winter's Here and the Booters Are Hot

There are no more Harvard football practices in the Stadium.

The women's soccer and field hockey players emptied their lockers weeks ago.

The hockey season is in full swing. The men's basketball team just had its home opener. Winter sports have begun.

But the Harvard men's soccer team still isn't ready to call it quits.

The Crimson (14-0-3) left for Clemson, S.C., this morning to prepare for this weekend's NCAA Final Four at Clemson's Riggs Field. Harvard takes on San Diego St. Saturday at 1 p.m., with the host Tigers facing North Carolina at 3 p.m.

The road to the Final Four has been smooth for the booters. Harvard breezed through the regular season, capturing its first Ivy League title in 17 years. Now it's back for a second-straight trip to the semifinals.

And the Crimson isn't planning on playing only one more game this season. Harvard's been to the Final Four before--just last year, in fact. Duke downed the Crimson, 3-0, in Durham, N.C., last December.

But this weekend's airline tickets are booked for a Sunday night flight home. Harvard's not messing around. It plans on hanging around in Clemson for the entire tournament. And not to watch.

"The team's really focusing on going down there and winning the national championship," senior back Andy Dale said. "It's not just a trip to the Final Four. It's a serious bid to win."

Cruising to Clemson: Harvard's had the shortest trip to the semifinals, playing only two earlier NCAA contests. The Crimson downed the University of Connecticut, 1-0 in overtime, and crushed Adelphi, 3-0.

All three of the other teams played three-game playoff schedules, each upsetting a top-five team. San Diego St. ousted fifth-ranked SMU, Clemson topped number-one Indiana and the Tar Heels dumped third-ranked South Carolina.

Taking Stock: Paul Baverstock is on the rise in the late season. The sophomore midfielder broke open the three-way tie for second place on the Crimson scoring list with a pair of tallies against Adelphi. Baverstock now has seven goals and three assists for 17 points, three of them coming in Harvard's last three games.

Sophomore forward Dave Kramer didn't score Sunday, but he's still the Crimson's top leader with 24 points. Sophomore Nick D'Onofrio's game-winning tally puts him in third with seven goals and one assist for 15 points.

Headaches and Cold Sweats: Senior midfielder Nick Hotchkin had a pretty tough head bump in Sunday's quarterfinal contest, but it wasn't against the ball.

Hotchkin hit the ground with Adelphi defender Paul Tetlow on a close play, and Tetlow made an intentional slam against the midfielder's forehead as the pair stood up.

Tetlow should have been seeing red--as in a red ejection card, that is. But it was Hotchkin shaking his head when the Panther only received a caution.

A little headache didn't slow Hotchkin. His seemingly effortless speed up the left midfield prompted the crowd to chant "Sweat, Nick, Sweat" despite the chilly temperatures.

No Goals Allowed: Two tournament playoffs and a league game for the Ivy title. Pretty stiff competition. But Harvard junior goalie Stephen Hall has been solid under pressure--not allowing a goal in the Crimson's past three contests.

Hall blanked UConn in the New England Championship, stopped Yale to give Harvard sole possession of the league crown, and didn't let Adelphi even come close to netting the ball.

Just nothing but doughnuts.

Passing the Test: The booters didn't get to hang around Ohiri Field and celebrate their 3-0 quarterfinal round win over Adelphi for very long last Sunday. Harvard had a date at Dillon Field House 30 minutes after the game.

A command performance for the NCAA drug testing committee.