Matchups To Watch in March

While most students will take time off and head home this month for Spring Break, March will also provide a number of Crimson athletes with some of their most crucial matchups.Here's a look at some of the games that could have major implications for Harvard Athletics.

March 2nd: Men’ and Women’s College Squash Association Individual Championship

Both men’s and women’s squash will compete in this pinnacle event of individual intercollegiate squash. The men will play in Hanover while the women will be in Amherst, Mass. Watch out for freshman Amanda Sobhy who is considered to be one of the best women’s collegiate squash players of all-time, having beaten last years national women’s champion, 11-1,11-3,11-1. On the men’s side, look for Ali Farag (11-0) who was ranked the No. 1 junior player in the world last year.

March 2nd-3rd: Women’s Water Polo at the Harvard Invitational

Look forward to three of Harvard's four home games of the season; The Crimson will first play coach Ted Minnis' alma mater, San Jose State, at 7pm on the 2nd. On the 3rd, the team will face Princeton and Bucknell, at 11:40 and 7:00p.m, respectively.

March 2nd-3rd: Men's Basketball vs. Columbia and Cornell

After Penn’s victory against Harvard in late February, Harvard is no longer assured a ticket to the NCAA tournament. This pairing of games will determine the Crimson's fate. With two wins, Harvard will be guaranteed a share of the Ivy title; with two loses, however, Harvard will likely be out of the running for the tournament. In addition, depending on the success of other conference teams in this last weekend of the season, the Ivy title could be split in a variety of ways in the end. Overall, March 2nd and 3rd will determine the fate of the Crimson's bid to the NCAA tournament, as well as the Ivy title.

March 2nd -3rd: ECAC Women's hockey semifinals

Harvard women’s hockey (22-8-1) swept Princeton in the ECAC quarterfinals at the end of February, 5-4, 5-3. It now heads to the ECAC semifinals in Ithaca, N.Y. where it will play St. Lawrence (22-9-4). A victory in the ECAC Tournament will earn the Crimson an automatic seed in the NCAA tournament later in March.

March 6th: Women’s Lacrosse vs. James Madison

Women’s lacrosse (1-0) will play against James Madison at home at 3:30p.m on the 6th. James Madison (2-1), an historically challenging Harvard rival, is currently ranked 13th in the nation. This match should be a good indication of the Crimson's strength going into the season. It should also be a good warm-up for the rest of the month, which features matchups with ranked teams Penn, Johns Hopkins, and Boston College.

March 9th-11th: ECAC Men’s Hockey Quarterfinals

Harvard Men’s Hockey, currently 3rd in the Eastern College Athletics Conference, will start in earnest its journey to the 2012 Championships in Atlantic City. The teams will be arranged such that the best out of three games will move on to the semi-finals on Mar. 16. With Harvard’s win in late February against Clarkson (3-2) after a rough start, the Crimson secured a bye directly into the quarterfinals. Look for top players senior Alex Killorn, and juniors Danny Biega and Alex Fallstrom to bring Harvard to victory.

March 27th: Men’s Lacrosse vs. Massachusetts

Coming off an already great start to the season, Harvard men’s lacrosse (2-0) will take on the 8th-ranked University of Massachusetts (3-0). Although not a conference game, a win against the Minutemen would give the Crimson momentum continuing its season and its subsequent games against Michigan and Cornell.

March 30th: Women’s Softball

Looking towards a busy March, Harvard will play its 18th game this season against Cornell. After two years of meeting in the season-closing championship series, with the Big Red winning in 2010 and the Crimson taking the championship last year, it will be interesting to see how comparable the teams are this year. With Cornell losing record-holding pitcher Elizabeth Dalrymple to graduation last year, we will have to wait to see which team will triumph in 2012.