Midway through the second period last night, when Harvard's Johanna Neilson skated towards the penalty box after a tripping call, the crowd at Northeastern's Mathews Arena was mistakenly informed by the announcer, "Harvard goal scored by..."

It's easy to understand his confusion.

Neilson's penalty was one of the few pauses during a Crimson scoring onslaught that downed the talonless Eagles of Boston College, 12-1, in the first game of the women's Beanpot opening round.

Harvard can now look forward to next Tuesday's Beanpot final against powerful Northeastern, which downed the Terriers of BU in last night's late game.

"It's going to be a lot tougher game than this," Harvard Co-Captain Genie Simmons said.

That the Crimson hadn't expected much trouble from B.C.--where women's hockey is only a club sport--was evident in the game's opening minute when Simmons stuffed the first of her two goals on the evening past besieged Eagle netminder Kate Debethune just 57 seconds into the opening period.

No elation, no customary backslapping or helmet patting on the part of the Crimson. Just a quiet reassembing at the red line for the post-goal face-off.

It was already clear that it would be one of those nights, very similar to the contest earlier in the season when Harvard (now 7-6-1 overall) blasted the same hapless Eagle squad (1-8) by a score of 11-0.

"It would be nice," said Crimson Coach John Dooley, "if B.C. and [fellow women's hockey doormat] Boston University built up their programs a bit."

But Harvard did all the building last night. Taking its cue from Simmons' early tally, the Crimson effortlessly constructed a 5-0 first stanza lead.

Karen Carney, who notched a hat trick on the evening, was the next to beat Debethune, taking the puck herself from directly behind the BC net to tally at 3:32.

Harvard's lone senior, Christine Dooley, found the twines barely more than a minute later, and center Lisi Bailliere followed with a strong wrist shot from the point at 7:18 gone.

Neilson's first of two tallies came at 8:49, ending the first period scoring, and adding to what was already a Harvard rout.

Between the first and the second periods, the teams didn't even leave their benches for the lockerroom.

The Zamboni machine didn't come out to restore the ice.