After undergoing intensive surgery and a rehabilitation process that caused her to lose weight and miss workouts, Browning returned to crew. But the entire year would prove to be an extended battle to recover her previous form.

Following her impressive freshman year, Browning expected to make a bigger leap in her rowing ability during her sophomore season. But that expectation was stymied by her inability to enter the season with the same strength.

She returned to soccer last fall, her junior year.

"I needed to make sure that I did not have any lingering fear," Browning said. "I needed to prove that to myself."

She did, but the team's performance was disappointing to her. The Crimson failed to win the Ivy title for the first time in three years, finishing second behind Dartmouth, an eventual NCAA quarterfinalist. The team seemed to lack the intensity that characterized Harvard throughout its NCAA bid the former year.

One year after falling to powerhouse North Carolina in the quarterfinals, The Crimson (12-5-1, 6-1 Ivy) dropped out of the NCAA tournament in the second round with a 3-0 loss at Hartford.

"I would have to say that my training partners, [backup goalkeepers] Jennifer Burney '99 and Meredith Bagley '99, made soccer what it was for me last year," Browning said. "Our team had a lot of talent, but unfortunately it didn't convert to winning games. But overall, I have wonderful memories of my years with Harvard soccer. That team is a great team and I had fabulous defenders."

Browning said that two moments stand out as the most memorable in her Harvard career: sophomore Erin Aeschliman's two goals against UMass in the 1997 NCAA tournament, and co-captain Jessie Larson's slide tackle that saved a goal in the rematch against George Mason in 1998.