Freezing cold or not, it was a game Harvard needed to win.

So the women's hockey team jumped out to a quick first period lead, then barely hung on for a chilling 3-2 decision over Yale Saturday afternoon at semi-enclosed Brown and Nichols Arena.

The victory gave the Crimson a 5-6-1 intercollegiate record (6-6-1 overall), and, more importantly with the league tournament approaching (February 24-26 at Brown), a 2-1-1 mark in the Ivies.

"We'll be going down there to make a good run at the championship," Joe Bertagna, coach of the squad, said yesterday. "We won't be in awe of anybody," he added.

For the umpteenth time, the "Green Line" of Tania Huber, Sara Fischer and Meg Streeter played a key role for the Crimson. Huber picked up two goals, her 13th and 14th of the season, in the first period, then helped preserve a tenuous one-goal Harvard lead in the game's final minutes.

"The Green Line is expected to carry the load for us," Bertagna said, "and they were just super."

It took only 1:47 for Huber to get rolling, as she finished a passing combination with a wrist shot past Eli goaltender June Mendoza. Linemates Fischer and Streeter picked up assists on the play. When Huber banked a centering pass off a Yale defenseman and into the net at 6:05, the Crimson had a 2-0 lead.

The Gamer

But freshman Firkin Reed's fourth tally of the year, set up by Lauren Norton at 12:45 of period one, proved to be the game winner.

"The first period was the best we've played all year, but we definitely let down and let Yale get back into it," Huber said after the game.

"It was pretty cold out there," she added.

A backhanded rebound by Eli winger Penny Stoddart late in the second period broke Nelia Worsley's shutout bid, and Nancy Etzwiler's long, deflected slapper brought Yale even closer with 3:55 left in regulation.

Not to be denied, the Crimson aided by effective time-wasting by Huber and Reed, earned the victory and the chance to come in out of the cold.