By the start of the second half, opportunity's knuckles were already callused from the constant rapping.

But after a regular season and a half-game of missed chances, the Harvard women's soccer team finally opened the door.

In its opening-round NCAA Tournament game against Central Connecticut State yesterday, the Crimson (12-4-1) defeated the Lady Blue Devils, 4-1, at Ohiri Field. Harvard's victory prize is a trip to the University of Hartford on Saturday to take on the No. 16-ranked Hawks in a round of 32 match-up.

With three goals in the second half yesterday, including two in the first 14 minutes, Harvard broke a trend that has burdened it all season--an inability to turn its numerous scoring opportunities into tallies. When a goal by senior Naomi Miller late in the first half finally put the Crimson on the board, it opened floodgates that had remained shut against lesser teams than the Northeast Conference-champion Lady Blue Devils.

"I was real happy to get that last goal right before halftime," said Harvard Coach

Tim Wheaton. "I think that made a bigdifference, going into halftime one up instead oftied."

It was junior Gina Foster who began Harvard'ssecond-half offensive onslaught. Foster, who inthe first half had been the Crimson's poster girlfor near-misses at the net, saw that chance atredemption so rare in postseason play, and seizedit.

One of several Harvard players streakingforward on a break, she took a ball from seniorback Jaime Chu, saw a clear shot at the net, woundup and fired as the keeper was leaving the box.Foster's intention was to kick it towards the farpost to her left, but with the field and the balldampened from the morning's rains, the ballcareened off the side of her cleat and found itsway into the right corner of the goal.

"I looked up the field and there seemed to beopen space that we could capitalize on," Fostersaid. "I was going to try to shoot it far-post tocheat the goalie a bit since she was goingnear-post, and I did kind of mishit it, but I gotit through. Early on I missed some wide openshots, and I just had to get focused and figureout how to do it."

CCSU Coach Bill Coleman focused his team'sdefensive pressure on the middle of the field,which left room for the wings to streak inrelatively unmolested. While his team succeededin not letting the big guns beat it--leadingscorer Emily Stauffer did not score and leadinggoal-scorer Miller found the net only due tofortuitous positioning--Harvard was able to takeadvantage of its depth and execute on the outside.

"We heard that they were going to double theball in the middle so that might create some wideopen areas outside, and it looked like thathappened," Stauffer said.

Foster's score, at 52:07, gave the Crimson atwo-goal lead it would hold for all of one minuteand 21 seconds. On the ensuing CCSU possession,junior midfielder Amy Smith controlled the ballnear the right endline and sent a booming crossacross the mouth of the goal.

Harvard junior goalkeeper Anne Browning doveheadlong to her right to deflect the ball--rightoff the knee of teammate Ashley Berman and backinto the net. Berman's own goal was credited toCCSU freshman Nicole Davis.

"I was too tentative," Berman said. "The ballwas coming across and I really should have justgotten it out. There was a deflection, and itjust deflected right onto my knee and off of myknee into the goal."

Berman was not done scoring, however. Justover five minutes after her first goal of thegame, she had a second, this time for the goodguys.

CCSU senior sweeper Julie Twaddle actuallybegan the play by attempting to clear the ball outof the backfield. Her kick had not traveled morethan a few inches before it found an unintendedtarget in Berman's hip.