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M EL A N IE BA SK IN D HARVARD WOMEN’S LACROSSE The first day of February meant it was back to work for Melanie. Not that she ever really took any time off. “It’s been pretty hectic with school and everything,” she said, referring to the epoch between the end of soccer season and the beginning of lacrosse season as the Crimson held their first official practice. Catching up with Melanie was laborious because the energetic senior never actually slowed down. Barely a week after the 3–0 NCAA soccer tournament loss to Boston University last November she had her lacrosse stick in her hands and was participating in the minimal informal team workouts that are allowed by the Ivy League, “Just to get the feel of it back.” She closed out the first semester in high style academically, which is nothing new, of course. And she also flew out to San Francisco right after exams for the job interview with Acumen, which proved to be an eye-opening experience. “I didn’t get the job, which was good,” she said. “I kind of got freaked out by the office scene and I didn’t think it was a good fit for me. I kind of decided that even if I had gotten the job, I wouldn’t have taken it. So now I’m thinking that I want to spend a year abroad. I applied to a bunch of travel and public service scholarships the school offers, and I had to put together proposals on why you want to go, and what you would do with the funding.” After spending time with her family over the holidays, she was back on campus weeks before she was required to return, working in t he library, crafting those proposals, and spending countless hours in the gym pounding a treadmill to get in shape for lacrosse. There is an unmistakable vibe around the team, and it was clearly evident as coach Lisa Miller put the players through drills under the bubble that was erected inside Harvard Stadium during the winter months, allowing the historic venue to be functional for spring sport practices. “There’s a lot S P R I N G 248 of excitement going into the season, a lot of hype and expectation that came with the success we had last year and knowing we only graduated one senior and brought in a big freshman class,” Melanie said. Harvard closed 2011 ranked twentieth in t he Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association poll thanks to a 10–6 record, 5–2 in the Ivy League. That victory total was the Crimson’s best since 1994, and it was the first time since 1997 that they had appeared in the IWLCA poll. However, there was disappointment at the end of the year when they lost a heartbreaker in the Ivy League championship game, 12–10, t o Princeton, denying them an automatic invitation to the NCAA tournament. And what was frustrating about that is the other two teams who participated in the Ivy tournament, Penn and Dartmouth, both received at-large bids to the NCAA despite their first-round Ivy losses. The hope for 2012 was that the Crimson would take that next step and win their first Ivy title since 1993 and earn their first NCAA bid since 1994. “In sport you live for today,” Miller said. “So you can’t really look at last year’s success and say we’re just going to have it this year. We’re looking forward to it. We have a tough schedule, but the kids are really excited about it.” GIRL FOR ALL SEASONS Melanie grew up in Massachusetts, Lucky Mkosana was born and raised half a world away in Zimbabwe; she is white, he is black; she went to Harvard, he attended Dartmouth; her goal was to become a doctor, his was to play professional soccer. They were different in so many ways, but they had one thing very much in common with soccer players of any age, on any continent: A passion for what the legendary Pelé refers to as “the beautiful game” that was as clear as the top row on the eye chart. This was evident for Melanie even when she was five years old and her little T-shirt came down past her knees when she was playing in the youth leagues around her suburban hometown. She was always one of the smallest kids...

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