Leadership has been a key factor in guiding younger players as they adjust to the college game. On a roster with few seniors starting, leadership on the field is in the hands of younger players.

For the first time since 2006, the team is captained by a junior, outfielder Shelbi Olson. Olson spent most of last season starting in right field.

In the infield, Allard points to junior Kasey Lange as a guiding light. Lange was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2011 and has been named to the first All-Ivy team for two years running at third base.

“We’re really trying to push Kasey to be a leader out on the field and really command the infield and help make decisions out there,” Allard says.

While the onus to win rests on her players, Allard views her own role as a coach as lying in a delicate equilibrium.

“With a team that has had less experience, you need to balance your expectations with their growth,” Allard says. “I think patience can be very key with that role. You don’t want to be too patient such that you allow them to continue to make a lot of mistakes ,but you don’t want to have so many expectations that they can’t meet them.”

The team battled at the beginning of the season, starting 5-9 in its three road-trip tournaments in March. Occasionally, the team’s performances in losses have disappointed Allard. On March 24, the team lost to Syracuse in the tenth inning when a wild pitch helped the Orange snag a 5-4 victory.

“Currently, we’re in a period of frustration because we should be playing better than we are,” Allard says. “We aren’t making necessary adjustments because we feel as a team that we haven’t had enough time to make those adjustments.”

Again, Allard looks to the past, back to that 2001 championship team.

“[In 2001] they really came together as a team and I think that’s the challenge where this team is—to play above where their talent is,” Allard said. “We haven’t done that yet.”

—Staff writer Cordelia F. Mendez can be reached at cordeliamendez@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter at @CrimsonCordelia.