Harvard women's ice hockey Coach John Dooley delivered his Valentine's Day speech a day late this year.

"I told the girls Tuesday that the game of hockey is 90 percent heart," the second-year coach said. "We hadn't been playing with much heart or intensity recently I told them that if they wanted something badly enough, they'd really have to reach deep."

And the icewomen really wanted Dartmouth. With two of their top players on the bench yesterday at Bright Center, the Cantabs took an early lead, and then dug deep to hold on for a heart-pounding 2-0 win.

While Liz Ward and Diane Hurley watched from the bench with knee injuries, several new Crimson lines--assembled late Tuesday because of the injuries--matched the Big Green's aggressive style of play.

"That was one of the finest games we have played all year," a grinning Dooley said afterwards. "We played with a great deal of intensity and really kept them off balance."

The win raised the Crimson record to 8.6 (4.4 in Ivy play) and marked the squad's fourth shutout in five games. More importantly, though, it also kept Harvard in the race for the Ivy title. The icewomen, who dropped a big 3-1 game to Cornell last weekend, moved into a third-place tie with Brown in the league standings.

"We really had a bad time up at Cornell," Dooley said "After the game I felt the girls hadn't been mentally prepared. After today couldn't be prouder."

But before the game the outlook didn't look brilliant for the Crimson. Ward, the squad third leading scorer, remained hobbled by bursitis in the knee, while Hurley, one of the team's offensive stars, hurt her knee in practice earlier this week Making matters worse Cheryl Tate, the icewomen's top goaltender who has recorded the four recent shutouts had a knee injury of her own.

And the opposition at hand was no easy task, either. Dartmouth defeated Cornell 3-0 Sunday, limiting the Big Red to a measly 15 shots on goal.

"We were pretty worried about Dartmouth," Crimson forward Kathy Carrol said. "We really had our backs against the wall. We weren't sure if we could do it and neither was coach. We knew the first period would be crucial."

It took just a few moments into the first-period for the Crimson to display its new strength. Attacking the Big Green defense, the icewomen kept the pressure on Dartmouth goalie Kristen Bjork. The sophomore goalie finally cracked, allowing a Carroll shot to sneak by at the 7.17 mark.

Harvard added an insurance goal 16.35 into the second stanza when Jennifer White took the puck from Vicki Palmer and smashed it past Bjork.

"Both goals were major league goals," Dooley said. "Everyone was out there really pushing. We had to compensate for Diane and Liz and we really did it."

The Crimson now heads into Friday night's Beanpot finals against Northeastern. The defending champion Harvard squad dropped a 7-2 game to the Huskies, who enter the game as the favorite, earlier this year.

"It's going to be an extremely tough game," Dooley said. "We'll have to play as well as we did today just to be in the game. But I really think today's win will give us the confidence we'll need."

THE NOTEBOOK: The Beanpot begins 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Bright Center and admission is $3 for adults and $2 for students. Tickets will be available at the door...Tate turned away 18 Dartmouth shots last night...Dooley credited ice hockey newcomer Kelly Landry with an outstanding game yesterday...Carroll took a hard fall with just over a minute remaining yesterday. She left the ice under her own power.