Unlike their male counterparts, members of the Harvard women's ice hockey team did not really expect to win their season opener last night at Bright Center. And their 5-2 defeat to Providence, a perennial powerhouse that finished second in the ECACs last season, didn't cause anyone to panic.

"We were pleased to do as well against them as we did," senior Co-Captain Char Joslin said.

As Coach John Dooley pointed out, it's only one game.

"We're going to be a much better team as we get used to each other," Dooley said.

Despite a scoreless first period, the Lady Friars, sparked by Beth Beagan's two goals and one assist, had the depth and the talent to move the puck more effectively than the Crimson--factors which would prove to be the difference in the game.

From the start of the second period, Providence began to take the initiative behind strong offensive play by Beagan and Cammi Granato, sister of New York Rangers' forward Tony Granato. At 2:14 into the period, Granato took a pass from Beagan on the left side of the goal and pushed the puck past Harvard goalie Gillian D'Souza for the first point of the game.

The goal turned the game towards the Lady Friars' favor. At the 8:31 mark of the period, senior forward Heather LaDuke fired a pass from behind the Harvard goal to wide-open teammate Sarah Coan, who easily stuffed the puck from the front of the net for a 2-0 Providence lead.

"When their first-line defense [Joslin and junior Sue Cullinane] was off the ice, we really took the advantage," Providence Coach John Marchetti said.

Just over a minute later, Providence scored again as freshman forward Michelle Johansson batted a high slap shot by defender Kelly O'Leary down into the net. With the bizarre goal, the game was quickly becoming a rout.

But Harvard struck back.

With only 15 seconds left in the second period, Crimson forward Sandra Whyte took a pass from Joslin on the right side and put a shot through the legs of Providence goaltender Shannon Sweezey for the power-play goal.

After the second intermission, Whyte struck again just 1:40 into the final period. The junior stuffed a Providence defender at center-ice, then scored on an ensuing breakaway, putting the puck past Sweezey into the right upper net. The Crimson trailed, 3-2.

However, Harvard's hopes of turning the game around were quickly dashed less than a minute later, when Beagan slightly deflected a slap shot by Friar defender Lisa Paccione into the Crimson net.

While the Crimson put a number of shots off the post during the remainder of the period, it could not find the net again.

"If we had been an inch closer, it could have been a tie game," Dooley said.

Beagan tacked up her second goal of the game at 7:31 into the period, taking a pass from Granato and putting it past D'Souza from the blue line for the final goal of the game.