February 16, 1982.

Northeastern and Harvard have played three even periods of regulation and skated through four scoreless overtime stanzas in the first game of the 1982 Women's Beanpot. Now, 5:37 in the fifth overtime and almost four hours since the start of the game, the Crimson's Sue Newell breaks into the Husky zone and deposits the puck in the Northeastern twines for a 3-2 victory, putting Harvard in its first Beanpot final.

February 19, 1982.

Both Harvard and Boston University enter the third period of the Beanpot championship in a scoreless tie. B.U. goalie Lisa Whitcomb surrenders her first two goals in four games of Beanpot play, as the Crimson finally emerges a 2-1 victor, taking its first-ever championship.

Beanpot, The word has men's hockey written all over it. And with it comes vision of some of college hockey's finest games.

But the Beanpot tourney many consider one of the finest had little to do with men's hockey. For this one had women's hockey written all over it. And all one has to do to find it is look at last year's tournament. For last year's Northeastern- Harvard and B.U.-Harvard showdowns, were two of women's hockey's all-time best.

Now a year later, the stage is set for revenge. But each squad, along with Boston College, will have a tough time when opening-round action of the fifth annual women's Beanpot begins Tuesday.

Harvard, hosting the tournament at Bright Center for the first time, will square off against Boston College at 6 p.m., followed by Northeastern vs. B.U. at 8:30 p.m. The consolation game will take place at 6 p.m. and the championship game at 8:30 p.m. on February 18.

Northeastern, which skated its way to the first two Beanpot titles, has again clearly emerged as the tournament favorite. Under second-year Coach Don McCloud, the Huskies enter with a 9-3 record, having already blown out both B.C. (by scores of 13-0 and 14-0) and Harvard (7-1 earlier this year).

"Sure I think we should be favored to win this year's tournament," McCloud said. "After all, we've beaten the other local schools. But I learned long ago that in a tournament like the Beanpot, you have to respect everyone, because everyone gets out there and plays with a great deal of emotion."

And Terrier Coach Don Christakos agrees. "You have to go with Northeastern as the pre-tournament favorite, but this is the Beanpot Tournament we're talking about. It's like a whole new season. Anything can happen. I look to Harvard as a possible surprise."

That's exactly what happened last year: Harvard turned out to be the surprise of the tournament. The Crimson will, like last year, take a 6-5 record into the tournament, after posting big wins over Wesleyan and Yale. But Harvard Coach John Dooley is not overconfident.

"We are at a disadvantage," he says. "We haven't been practicing together for too long and may be kind of rusty," adds Dooley, whose squad just returned to the ice last week after a two-week exam break, though the two recent victories may have restored Harvard's momentum.

Here's a brief scouting report of all four teams and how they match up in the first round:

Boston University vs. Northeastern: These two-teams did not meet in last year's tourney and have not played so far this year. Each has had a great deal of success in the tournament; B.U. is 5-3 in Beanpot play and took the 'Pot in 1981 while Northeastern has a 6-2 record in the tournament and won it in 1979 and 1980.