It took them a period to warm up, but once the Harvard icemen found the range they poured in five goals for a convincing 5-1 taming of the Northeastern Huskies in the Beanpot opener in the Boston Garden last night.

Northeastern's lone goal three minutes into the second period sounded the alarm that woke Harvard from its exam break stupor. The Crimson was down only 40 seconds before Jack Garrity, still riding his goal scoring spree, punched in a rebound off a long shot by defenseman Bob Carr.

Harvard went ahead to stay three minutes later on the face-off play following a Northeastern penalty. Bobby Clark took the punt from Pete Miller at the edge of the circle and fed Kevin Burke who flipped it into the upper left hand corner from ten feet out.

Gordy Price padded the margin five minutes before the period ended, with the Huskies again down a man. His long skimmer flipped cleanly under Northeastern's screened goalie, and Harvard took a 3-1 lead off the ice.

Harvard lapsed into lethargy in the third period but Northeastern's passing was sloppy and the Crimson defense supplied good coverage in front of the net.

Last Chance

Northeastern had a last chance to fight back and avenge its early-season 3-1 loss to the Crimson when Ed Zellner was called for hooking at 13:15. But a loose puck inside the crease was the best the Huskies could manage before Bobby Carr busted the game open.

The sophomore defenseman broke down the ice on the right and caught Northeastern napping. Carr rifled a forehand a foot off the ice that beat goalie Gary Thornton to the far side.

Carr's dramatic solo rejuvenated his teammates and it was only in the closing minutes that Harvard approached its January peak of play.

Threading The Needle

With five minutes remaining in the game, Dennis McCullough threaded the needle between three Huskies with a pass that hit Kent Parrot racing across the blue line. Parrot wasted no time stickhandling and fired from the edge of the face-off circle. The bullet glanced off Thornton's pad into the net for the wrap-up tally.

Harvard's showing was a great improvement over Saturday's feeble performance at Princeton, but it leaves Cooney Welland's skaters a long way to go before they will be ready for B.U.

In the nightcap before a screaming capacity crowd the Terriers downed Boston College 6-4 to move into the finals against Harvard next Monday night.