Instead of dazzling competitors with her maneuverability in the open field, McDavitt has shown her explosiveness on corners, both on carefully planned options and gritty rebounds. Both Harvard goals against Wake Forest came as McDavitt scored on corner rebounds.

Harvard’s improved execution on corners has been due largely to the emergence of the ability of junior Liz Andrews and sophomore Shelley Maasdorp in delivering the hard hits from the top of the circle.

All the corner execution would be meaningless if Harvard didn’t keep its opponents off the scoreboard, but the Crimson has done that with increasing frequency this season. Harvard closed out the year with three straight shutouts to bring its overall total to nine.

Harvard has kept teams off the scoreboard largely by possessing the ball itself and attacking from all positions, as well as creating pressure as soon as it loses the ball.

“If I would pick an area that’s a tremendous strength it’s our team defense,” Caples says. “It starts from the top, by the forwards playing high-pressure defense up top and coming back on the ball.”

And when the ball does enter the defensive third, Harvard has generally averted danger. The backfield was the Crimson’s most heavily hit area due to graduation as only captain Katie Scott returned, but First Team All-Ivy midfielder Jen Ahn was shifted back, and Andrews and junior Diana Bowen filled the other holes.

That unit has generally made life easier for junior goalkeeper Katie Zacarian, who hasn’t found herself in as many situations where she she needed superstar efforts just to keep Harvard in games.

Zacarian is plenty active even when she isn’t being barraged by shots. She’s the vocal leader of the defense, and through her good communication with the backfield, prevents herself from having to makes saves well in advance.

“Even though she hasn’t had to play the ball that much, just having her on the field is really comforting and gives you confidence,” Ahn said.

Harvard has followed its recipe for success for the most part this season. The Crimson’s worst departure came at the most crucial time of the season—when it played its nearest regional rival B.C. and Ivy rival Princeton. The timing was especially surprising because the team had just come off a weekend of dominant performances against California and New Hampshire, two teams that ultimately won regular season conference championships.

“B.C. and Princeton was one big bump in the road,” Caples says. “We were not a disciplined hockey team that week. I don’t know why. Was it exams, was it too much expectation, was it coming off a great week of Cal or New Hampshire? To their credit, they pulled it back together.”

After losing out on the Ivy title, Harvard instead had to rely on good fortune to make the tournament. It got plenty of that, as nearly every team in contention for at-large berths lost in the first round of their conference tournaments.

“After [the Princeton loss] I thought it was going to be a long shot, and I didn’t really change my mind on that until our coach told us we had been ranked No. 2 in the region [Monday],” McDavitt says. “That made a big difference.”

So as a consequence of the long list of national rivals that fell just short, Harvard once achieved the less straightforward method of making the national tournament.

“Sometimes it’s harder to win a conference than win an at-large bid,” Caples says. “You’re competing with so many more teams than just within your conference. I think the Ivy thing is just really psychological for us and we just need to eliminate that mental obstacle, whatever it is.”

The Crimson is certain that its best field hockey is still yet to come, and it was grateful to learn from the NCAA Selection Show that it would not only showcase that hockey at the national level, but also the chance to do it in front of the home crowd.

—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at remer@fas.harvard.edu.