The Big Dance

If you take a look at the "Men's 1996 Outlook" section of the 1996 Harvard Lacrosse brochure, here's what you'll find:

"Despite the accomplishments (of the 1995 season), the 1996 squad wants to take its level of play further, specifically to the NCAA Tournament. Harvard's goal may quickly become a reality with experience and determination."

And as fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers might say, this was next year.

For the 1996 Harvard men's lacrosse team (12-3 overall, 5-1 Ivy) did exactly what it set out to do way back in March: go to the NCAA's for the first time since 1990.

"Going into the season, we felt we had a team that could make the NCAA tournament," co-captain Mike Eckert said. "It's something we expected to do, but it's nice to reach a goal that you set for yourself."

But the team knew at the beginning of the season that making the big dance wasn't going to be easy. Crammed into the team's schedule were the same nemeses that have plagued Harvard so frequently in the recent past: Duke, Notre Dame, Princeton, Brown and UMass, among others.

After squeaker losses to Duke (13-11), Notre Dame (15-10), and UMass (8-6) last season, this year's seniors were determined to exact revenge.

Yet the chips were stacked against them at the outset by Old Man Winter, who dumped a record amount of snow on Boston and forced the team to practice indoors at Briggs Cage until just two days before their season opener against Boston College.

Early wins against B.C. and Penn were just tune-ups for the first big fish on Harvard's dinner plate. If Harvard could beat Duke, a traditional lacrosse powerhouse ranked eighth in the nation at the time, they would be in the running for an NCAA tournament bid. A loss might prove fatal to their playoff hopes.

The game was tied at seven after the first half before Harvard exploded for five consecutive goals spanning the third and fourth quarters to take a 13-8 lead.

"After the stretch of five consecutive goals, we said to ourselves, 'Wow, we're a pretty good team,'" co-captain Chris Wojcik said.

Harvard went on to win that game, 15-13, and with the win thrust itself into the lacrosse spotlight. But subsequent losses to Notre Dame (7-6 in overtime) and Princeton (17-10) cast doubt on Harvard's shot at the tournament.

All of this made the UMass game, which followed the loss to Princeton, a must-win for Harvard.

And for a must-win game, things weren't looking too good for the Crimson at the beginning of the contest.

Playing in the midst of a downpour, Harvard found itself down 8-2 by the middle of the third quarter. The game, and with it the team's hopes for postseason action, seemed to be slipping away.

"It's gut-check time," Wojcik told his teammates in a huddle after Harvard called time- out.

And with that, Harvard roared back, cutting the lead to 9-7 behind three goals each from Wojcik and sophomore Mike Ferrucci. The team went on to win the contest, 12-10, thereby keeping the playoff hopes alive.

"That win set the tone for the rest of the year," Eckert said.

But perhaps the victory most key victory of the Crimson's campaign was the 10-9 victory over Brown.

For years, as far as lacrosse was concerned, the Ivy League was Princeton, Brown, and then everyone else. Harvard was, in Wojcik's words, "the best of the rest."

All that changed with Harvard's victory, which was Harvard's first victory over Brown since 1984.

With the game tied at nine and 1:42 remaining in regulation, Wojcik found an opening in the defense, skirted past his defender and fired the ball past Brown netminder Greg Cattrano.

As Harvard began to hold its own against tough opponents, a new spirit of confidence began to emerge that perhaps didn't exist to the same degree in previous years.

"Winning is contagious," Eckert said. "It got to the point where we expected to win. Against Brown, we expected to win."

With the win, Harvard practically sealed up second place in the Ivy League and greatly enhanced its bid for the NCAA's. But the team wasn't done yet.

The team finished the season by polishing off UNH, Holy Cross, Cornell and Dartmouth, ending the season with a seven-game winning streak and ranked sixth in the country.

That final stretch of the season saw one of Harvard's oldest lacrosse records fall. Eckert, who was the Ivy League's leading scorer this season, tied Harvard's all-time scoring record, held by Grady Watts '62, with his 241st point of his Harvard career.

Despite the gaudy 11-2 record the team took into the NCAA tournament, the team was given the 11th seed, thereby pitting the team ironically against the 11th-ranked team in the nation, Hofstra.

In a see-saw battle through a driving rainstorm at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field, Harvard eked out a close 15-12 victory in a career performance by co-captain Pat Marvin, who scored six goals and added an assist (on a goal by brother and senior midfielder Mike Marvin).

The victory sent the Crimson to lacrosse's Elite Eight for only the second time in Harvard history (the first time was in 1990).

Though the team's run at the NCAA's was ended by a 23-12 loss to Virginia in the second round of the tournament, the experience was a building block for the future.

"For the younger guys, this has energized them," Wojcik said. "They've learned what it takes to get [to the NCAA tournament]."

"For the seniors in particular, the experience was unforgettable, especially since they had been through difficult times in their previous seasons at Harvard.

"This has been a dream season," Eckert said. "The seniors are proud of the legacy they left behind. To go out on top as a senior makes me really happy. I'm going to leave the program with nothing but good memories."CrimsonE. Houston WuSophomore MIKE FERRUCCI in Harvard's 22-6 win over Holy Cross.

And with that, Harvard roared back, cutting the lead to 9-7 behind three goals each from Wojcik and sophomore Mike Ferrucci. The team went on to win the contest, 12-10, thereby keeping the playoff hopes alive.

"That win set the tone for the rest of the year," Eckert said.

But perhaps the victory most key victory of the Crimson's campaign was the 10-9 victory over Brown.

For years, as far as lacrosse was concerned, the Ivy League was Princeton, Brown, and then everyone else. Harvard was, in Wojcik's words, "the best of the rest."

All that changed with Harvard's victory, which was Harvard's first victory over Brown since 1984.

With the game tied at nine and 1:42 remaining in regulation, Wojcik found an opening in the defense, skirted past his defender and fired the ball past Brown netminder Greg Cattrano.

As Harvard began to hold its own against tough opponents, a new spirit of confidence began to emerge that perhaps didn't exist to the same degree in previous years.

"Winning is contagious," Eckert said. "It got to the point where we expected to win. Against Brown, we expected to win."

With the win, Harvard practically sealed up second place in the Ivy League and greatly enhanced its bid for the NCAA's. But the team wasn't done yet.

The team finished the season by polishing off UNH, Holy Cross, Cornell and Dartmouth, ending the season with a seven-game winning streak and ranked sixth in the country.

That final stretch of the season saw one of Harvard's oldest lacrosse records fall. Eckert, who was the Ivy League's leading scorer this season, tied Harvard's all-time scoring record, held by Grady Watts '62, with his 241st point of his Harvard career.

Despite the gaudy 11-2 record the team took into the NCAA tournament, the team was given the 11th seed, thereby pitting the team ironically against the 11th-ranked team in the nation, Hofstra.

In a see-saw battle through a driving rainstorm at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field, Harvard eked out a close 15-12 victory in a career performance by co-captain Pat Marvin, who scored six goals and added an assist (on a goal by brother and senior midfielder Mike Marvin).

The victory sent the Crimson to lacrosse's Elite Eight for only the second time in Harvard history (the first time was in 1990).

Though the team's run at the NCAA's was ended by a 23-12 loss to Virginia in the second round of the tournament, the experience was a building block for the future.

"For the younger guys, this has energized them," Wojcik said. "They've learned what it takes to get [to the NCAA tournament]."

"For the seniors in particular, the experience was unforgettable, especially since they had been through difficult times in their previous seasons at Harvard.

"This has been a dream season," Eckert said. "The seniors are proud of the legacy they left behind. To go out on top as a senior makes me really happy. I'm going to leave the program with nothing but good memories."CrimsonE. Houston WuSophomore MIKE FERRUCCI in Harvard's 22-6 win over Holy Cross.