The Harvard's women's hockey team took a 4-3 lead into the third period but twice failed to stop Princeton sensation Kelly O'Dell and dropped a disappointing 5-4 decision to the Tigers last night at Bright Center.

With four minutes remaining in the game, O'Dell, who scored four Princeton goals, took advantage of a Crimson line change, and controlled the puck uncontested at center ice. And as Harvard found out the hard way, you just can't let O'Dell get some momentum.

The freshman from Medfield, who played seven years for a Needham men's league, deftly slipped by the lone defenseman, swept in on the goal, threw a mind-boggling deke, and flipped the puck past Crimson netminder Cheryl Tate for the gamewinner.

Stop!

When the red light flashed signifying the final Tiger tally, the Crimson saw its second strong performance against a talented squad come to naught. The skaters played inspired hockey for forty minutes--passing well, holding their positions, forechecking aggressively, and creating scoring opportunities. But hockey games are sixty minutes long and the only score that counts is the one at the final buzzer.

The Crimson came out storming after the opening buzzer and got an emotional boost when Sara Fischer gave Harvard a 1-0 lead in the first ten seconds of play. Center Alex Lightfoot beat the Tiger defender to the puck in the corner and centered it to Fischer, who rifled a quick wrist shot by goalie Becky Potter.

Led by the stellar examples of Fischer and Lightfoot, the entire Crimson squad swarmed all over the ice, pressuring the Tigers relentlessly. But Princeton, particularly O'Dell and fellow freshman phenomenon Syrena Carlbom, kept cool and took a 2-1 advantage on an individual effort tally by O'Dell, at 2:25 and a pretty pass from Carlbom to winger Anne-Marie Belli at 8:56.

When Sue Newell sat down in the penalty box for tripping at 10:05, the Tigers seemed destined for their fourth consecutive rout. But the foursome of Fischer, Lightfoot, rising Yardling star Megan Berthold, and co-captain Lauren Norton, whose poise and drive anchored a superlative effort by the defensive corps, not only snuffed out the Princeton power play, but tallied a shorthanded goal to knot the game at two.

Fischer stole the puck in the corner and attempted to stuff it by Potter. Lightfoot charged into the scramble in front and banged a shot into the twine.

After O'Dell's second red-lighter to end the first period, Newell, playing on a makeshift line of defensemen, converted a Jennifer White rebound to knot the contest at three. Moments later, leading scorer Diane Hurley tapped in a Lightfoot centering pass for a 4-3 Crimson lead at 4:56.