In goal, sophomore Evan Mendez wrested control of the starting job from co-captain Brett Conrad midway through the year and went on to excel, placing second in the league in goals-against-average.

“Evan has been great for the team,” said Friedman after a 2-0 victory over Brown. “He brought a lot of calm to our back line and our play. He has a clear mind and an ability to [control] the game. That’s what a lot of people don’t think about when they think about a goalkeeper: he has got the intangibles and he has the communication aspect of it, which is great.”

The focus all year, however, was not on results but rather on the process. Lehrer put his stamp on the program early on by telling his players to concentrate on the steps leading up to a given contest, and not on the statistics or the results on the scoreboard.

“[Lehrer] came in and there was immediately a switch within the team in the very beginning—a new level of focus and level of detail,” Harrington said. “His whole philosophy is to focus on what we are doing on a daily basis and to really solidify what our goals for the future are and to see what we are doing today to get that goal.”

During the beginning of the season, when the team was struggling to get wins—the Crimson won just once in its first nine games—Friedman said that it was important that the players completely bought into Lehrer’s philosophy.

In past years, players would allow losses to affect practice and their takeaways from games, something Lehrer tried to avoid.

“Everything that we did we focused on how we did it versus the results,” Friedman said. “Sometimes you are not seeing the results [you want], but we continued to do the right things. And at the end of the season, we looked back and could say we really improved and the results changed as we improved.”

Harrington said that he believes that after a recent downturn, the program is back in the right direction under Lehrer.

The Crimson finished in the conference’s top two for the first time since 2009, when it took home the Ivy League title.

Furthermore, the squad brought in the nation’s 34th-ranked recruiting class this year. No other Ancient Eight team was ranked.

“You can just tell that he cares about [the team] more than any single player does, and having a coach behind you that cares about how we are doing not only on a team but on an individual-basis helps a team go forward with confidence,” Harrington said. “I think that this program has a very bright future with him in charge.”

—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at david.freed@thecrimson.com.