M. Soccer Struggles to Fifth-Place Finish

It was as if their dream happened one year too early.

As juniors, Tom McLaughlin, Ricky Le and Toure McCluskey enjoyed an almost flawless season which included a string of 16 straight wins and a second-round NCAA Tournament appearance.

On the heels of such a breakout year, the expectations of the three seniors in their final Harvard soccer campaign became that much greater.

Unfortunately, the dream season to close out their careers was supposed to be another run through the NCAA Tournament. Instead, reality set in, as a hard-fought 3-2 regular-season loss to Hartwick on a cold day in New York signaled the end of it all.

"Our best year was my junior year because we had bragging rights in the Ivy League," McLaughlin said. "This season didn't go the way we would have liked, but that's just the way it is. Our underclassmen have a lot of experience under their belts, though, and they should be ready to go next year."

That one game capped off a disappointing season in which the two-time defending Ivy champions struggled throughout the season, finishing in fifth place with a 2-2-3 league record. McLaughlin, who currently plays with the New England Revolution, had yet another solid season at the striker position, notching 12 goals and eight assists en route to Ivy Player of the Year honors, but even the Harvard captain's firepower was not enough to make up for the team's youth.

With 10 sophomores and five freshman decorating the roster, Harvard was most susceptible in the midfield, where the loss of Will Kohler '97--two-time Ivy League Player of the Year--was most apparent.

Beginning with the first contest of the year, a 1-0 loss to Pennsylvania, Harvard struggled to connect passes and effectively move the ball upfield to McLaughlin. Botched passes were more frequent than solid offensive opportunities, as was evidenced by the nil on the scoreboard.

"We had four sophomores in the midfield, so none of them were key starters last fall," said Harvard Coach Steve Locker following the loss. "They were all players, but that was their first start. So there is a little lack of experience there. It was a little sloppy at times."

That one defeat, however, was not necessarily a signal of what was to come for the Harvard squad, considering that last year's remarkable 16-2 campaign began in similar fashion with a season-opening loss to Cornell.

"It's easy to say, `Well, last year we lost our opener and went on to win 16 straight,' but I don't want to get into that routine," Locker said. "You want to win your first game."

It became evident throughout the remainder of the 1997 season that those two teams, though separated by only one year, were starkly different. A subsequent tie to Boston College was followed by two wins against Columbia and Providence.

Record: 7-6-4; 2-2-3 Ivy

Coach: Steve Locker

Highlights: Tom McLaughlin named Ivy Player of Year, drafted by MLS' New England Revolution

Seniors: Ricky Le, Tour McCluskey, Tom McLaughlin

That would be the end of a winning record for the Crimson, however. The slide down the winning ladder began with the team's trip to California in early October.

Playing against two of the nation's mosttalented West Coast powers, Harvard was blanked inboth its games. A 3-0 loss to Stanford wasfollowed by a 5-0 humiliation at the hands ofCal-Berkeley. Seven days later, the Crimsonreturned home and took its California frustrationout on Boston University--usually a nationalpowerhouse team--to the tune of 5-0.

"If anyone had said that we would have thatkind of scoring against B.U., I would have said noway," Locker said. "We first had to rebuildourselves in the back. At least we had to defend;we had to prevent the other team from gettinggoals."

The new-found defensive strategy of Locker'sworked its magic for four straight games. In thatthree-week stretch, the Crimson disposed ofNortheastern, Princeton and Fairfield, and added atie against Cornell for good measure. Harvardallowed only two goals in those four games, bothcoming in the 2-2 draw.

"We had an extra meeting where we discussed thedefense a lot," said junior Andrew Lundquist. "Itreally helped us get organized and mark our men.We also began sticking to the same lineupconsistently, and that helped us get comfortablewith each other's play."

The remedy proved short-lived, however, as allhope for a miraculous league finish came crumblingdown in the team's second to last Ivy game of theyear.

A win against Dartmouth in Hanover would havehanded the Big Green its first Ivy loss of theseason, and it would have also given the Crimson achance to vie for the league title against Brownin the final Ivy game of the year.

After one half of soccer, it was all workingout as Harvard was nursing a comfortable 1-0 lead.The Crimson players were no doubt wishing that thegame had been 45 minutes long, however, asDartmouth erupted from the halftime break withthree goals en route to a 3-2 Big Green victory.

"That loss was incredibly disappointing," saidjunior goaltender Jordan Dupuis, who finished theseason with a .822 save percentage. "If we wouldhave won we would have entered the Brown game withthe possibility of a title."

Harvard would never enjoy the thrill of a winagain, as the demoralizing defeat by Dartmouth wasfollowed by two losses and a tie. The one brightspot came in the 2-2 tie against Brown.

With nothing but pride and the chance to be aspoiler on the line, the Crimson battled back froma one-goal deficit to force the eventual leaguerunner-up Bears to overtime in front of a heartycrowd of 500 fans which included Steve Sampson,the U.S. men's national coach.

"We were very unlucky this year," saidMcLaughlin, who tallied one of Harvard's twogoals. "People had been telling us that our seasonwas over and to come back from a goal down, thatjust shows real team spirit and character."

Although the season officially ended with the3-2 loss to Hartwick, the Brown game was the waythe Crimson players--especially the fourseniors--wanted to remember their 1997 campaign.

"I was so tired [in that Brown game], everyonewas, but you would never know watching,"McLaughlin said. "Everyone gave it everything theyhad and I am just real glad to be a part of thisteam. Even though we didn't win, everyone playedtheir hearts out. That was a great way to go outas far as I am concerned."

It may not have been Hartford in the secondround of The Dance, but it was something special.

One look at the faces of the four seniors onthe field after the Brown game made that juniorseason of NCAA glory seem like nothing but adistant memory

Playing against two of the nation's mosttalented West Coast powers, Harvard was blanked inboth its games. A 3-0 loss to Stanford wasfollowed by a 5-0 humiliation at the hands ofCal-Berkeley. Seven days later, the Crimsonreturned home and took its California frustrationout on Boston University--usually a nationalpowerhouse team--to the tune of 5-0.

"If anyone had said that we would have thatkind of scoring against B.U., I would have said noway," Locker said. "We first had to rebuildourselves in the back. At least we had to defend;we had to prevent the other team from gettinggoals."

The new-found defensive strategy of Locker'sworked its magic for four straight games. In thatthree-week stretch, the Crimson disposed ofNortheastern, Princeton and Fairfield, and added atie against Cornell for good measure. Harvardallowed only two goals in those four games, bothcoming in the 2-2 draw.

"We had an extra meeting where we discussed thedefense a lot," said junior Andrew Lundquist. "Itreally helped us get organized and mark our men.We also began sticking to the same lineupconsistently, and that helped us get comfortablewith each other's play."

The remedy proved short-lived, however, as allhope for a miraculous league finish came crumblingdown in the team's second to last Ivy game of theyear.

A win against Dartmouth in Hanover would havehanded the Big Green its first Ivy loss of theseason, and it would have also given the Crimson achance to vie for the league title against Brownin the final Ivy game of the year.

After one half of soccer, it was all workingout as Harvard was nursing a comfortable 1-0 lead.The Crimson players were no doubt wishing that thegame had been 45 minutes long, however, asDartmouth erupted from the halftime break withthree goals en route to a 3-2 Big Green victory.

"That loss was incredibly disappointing," saidjunior goaltender Jordan Dupuis, who finished theseason with a .822 save percentage. "If we wouldhave won we would have entered the Brown game withthe possibility of a title."

Harvard would never enjoy the thrill of a winagain, as the demoralizing defeat by Dartmouth wasfollowed by two losses and a tie. The one brightspot came in the 2-2 tie against Brown.

With nothing but pride and the chance to be aspoiler on the line, the Crimson battled back froma one-goal deficit to force the eventual leaguerunner-up Bears to overtime in front of a heartycrowd of 500 fans which included Steve Sampson,the U.S. men's national coach.

"We were very unlucky this year," saidMcLaughlin, who tallied one of Harvard's twogoals. "People had been telling us that our seasonwas over and to come back from a goal down, thatjust shows real team spirit and character."

Although the season officially ended with the3-2 loss to Hartwick, the Brown game was the waythe Crimson players--especially the fourseniors--wanted to remember their 1997 campaign.

"I was so tired [in that Brown game], everyonewas, but you would never know watching,"McLaughlin said. "Everyone gave it everything theyhad and I am just real glad to be a part of thisteam. Even though we didn't win, everyone playedtheir hearts out. That was a great way to go outas far as I am concerned."

It may not have been Hartford in the secondround of The Dance, but it was something special.

One look at the faces of the four seniors onthe field after the Brown game made that juniorseason of NCAA glory seem like nothing but adistant memory