It was almost fitting the way it ended. Last year, Harvard's 5-3 victory over Boston University in the Beanpot Tournament paved its way to a second-place seeding in the East and an appearance at the NCAA championships. Last night, the Terriers' 5-3 triumph over Harvard prevented any chance the Crimson had of making it happen again. And the way in which the Terriers crushed Harvard in the first period, then let them back into the game only to break the Crimson's heart in the final minutes, was the most macabre revenge possible.

BU didn't exactly blow Harvard off the ice in the first period, but the Crimson's disorganized defense, erratic passing, and maladjusted coordination between defense and forwards produced the same result.

After only five minutes had elapsed, Terrier Bob Gryp received a direct centering pass from the midst of a logjam in front of the Harvard net, and rifled a clean wrist shot past Crimson goaler Bruce Durno. At 9:32, Steve Stirling put in another from the right faceoff circle, and it seemed that Harvard was in for a dismal evening.

The Crimson, meanwhile, was doing very little right. At the 14-minute mark. Durne barely stuffed a BU breakaway, and at 16:05 Terrier captain Larry Davenport, hassled by Harvard's Skip Freeman, shored a centering pass into the Crimson net from point-blank range to make the game 3-0.

But Harvard started moving in the second period. Joe Cavanagh slid a goal past BU netminder Tim Regan at 3:45 from a scramble in front, and suddenly fenacious checking was holding BU at bay. After two periods it was only 3-1, and the Crimson was hassling the Terriers in the same manner that had worked so effectively against Cornell last month. A swarming attack, intelligent defense, and a spectacular game by Durno were doing the rest.

At 3:52 of the third period, Crimson defenseman Chris Gurry put a slap shot from the point off Cavanagh's body past Regan, and immediately the atmosphere changed.

At 15:10 with Harvard a man up and flying, Cavanagh taked Regan to the far right corner of the cage, then laced pass across to linemate Steve Owen, who blasted the puck into the open net to tie the game.

But Harvard's joy was short-lived. At 17:35, BU's Dick Toomey knocked a deflection past Durno to make it 4-3, and at 19:09 Davenport added a fifth into the open Harvard net. It was strangely reminiscent of a night just one year ago, when Harvard did it all, the same way.