W. Lax Heads to Promised Land: Final Four

The most valuable asset for a coach is perspective. A coach must be able to acknowledge the unpredictability and randomness f sports, to recognize that some factors just can't be controlled. And that you have to deal with what you've got.

Like any successful coach, Harvard's Carole Kleinfelder knows this well. Though her women's lacrosse team has had the luck (knock on wood) to coast through the season relatively injury-free, it enters the NCAA national Championships this weekend in Bethlehem, Penn. with a slightly more odious, unshakable monkey on its back: academics.

Harvard, currently the top-ranked team in the nation plays fourth-ranked Princeton tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the semi-finals of the tournament after basking in a two-week layoff.

Certainly a fortnight should have been ample time for the Crimson to fine tune its game, but Kleinfelder says Harvard has had other things on its mind lately.

"What's been working on is exams. We've been trying not to be too demanding. They don't need lacrosse pressure n them. They're coming in with exam pressure," Kleinfelder said.

Oh the pressure. Of being the number one team in the country for virtually the entire season. Of trying to win a second national championship (and only the school's third NCAA crown). Of playing an opponent that is younger and (dare anyone think it) hungrier.

(Incidentally, Princeton starts exams Monday.)

This weekend in Bethlehem, that type of pressure, no mater what Kleinfelder desires, will rise to a peak, akin to say, squatting naked at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

And, the question remains, can the Crimson take it?

Certainly, if anyone is an position to claim a championship his weekend, it is Harvard. The team boasts the premier offensive and defensive units in the country, and despite a momentary lapse down in Baltimore. Md. (an overtime loss to Loyola), it has run rough-shod over every opponent its faced.

Harvard's four starting seniors, moreover, have been to the NCAAs four times so far, including two trips to the final game. It's hard to match that kind of experience with The Pressure.

Indeed, Princeton looks like the ideal opponent for the Crimson. The Tigers play 10 freshmen. they succumbed 13-2 to Harvard earlier this year. And, in fact, they have not beating Harvard in nine years.

If logic prevails, the Crimson should not have too much trouble advancing past Princeton to the final against wither Virginia or Maryland (which play in the 4 p.m. game) But no one expects anywhere near the blowout Harvard recorded six weeks ago.

"It's really hard for us, for anyone, to beat someone a second time around. We have to go in with a healthy respect for them," Kleinfelder said.

Earning Respect

Indeed, Princeton has been earning respect all season. Coach Chris Sailer's Tigers lost thee games early on (to Harvard, Darmouth and Temple), but have since rattled off eight straight wins, including a 11-6 upset of Temple in the quarter-finals last weekend in Philadelphia, Penn.

Senior Anne Sherwood, who scored three goals last Saturday and is the top playmaker in Princeton history, leads a Wiley offensive unit, which includes senior Gillian Thompson (fifth in all-time scoring for the Tigers) and sophomore Kim Simons (three goals against Temple).

Led by senior goalie Leila Saddic (6.22 career goals-against-average), the defense, too, has played solidly, limiting opponents to 4.71 goals per game.

If it comes down to pure statistics, Harvard is the Better team. (Compare Saddic's 6.22 season GAA with Leary's 4.75, and Berkery's 45 goals with Simons 30).

But do these things ever come down to numbers?

Remember Harvard v. Penn state in 1989.

Remember the two week layoff (will it affect Harvard's conditioning and timing?)

And remember The Pressure.