The only bright spot in the game was the Harvard power play. In the Beanpot finale, B.U. effectively stifled Harvard's man-advantage situations by favoring the Crimson corner man. Cleary's strategy has a man at the face-off circle hash marks ready to take the pass from the point.

"Billy [Cleary] and Tim Taylor noticed what B.U. was doing in the Beanpot so we adjusted to it," Roth said. "We were shooting more from the point this time." The revised strategy worked on three power plays.

But Harvard will not be able to rely on its power play alone against Minnesota in the upcoming NCAAs in St. Louis. The squad will have to "regroup," as Roth puts it and get itself prepared mentally for the national championships.

"We were geared for another chance at B.U. and blew it," Thomas said. "It's not enough to say we can beat them in the consolation round, we have to be geared to go to the finals."

The squad will have to concentrate on executing faster and skating harder in order to upset Minnesota, another fast-skating team like the Terriers. Harvard will have to come out flying from start to finish or it will be the consolation round-again.

"You can talk all you want," Leigh Hogan, who has not been up to par due to a nagging abdominal muscle pull, said Sunday. "But you've just got to go out and work a little harder."