"Our inexperience marking a player like a Derek Mills and the Harvard goalkeeper's saves made the differences in the game," said Hartford Coach Doug Orr, whose team fell to 5-3 overall. "You can't let [Mills] loose. That's what will hurt you."

Hartford retaliated with a Victor Hernani dribbler past Crimson goal-tender Scott Salisbury 17:01 into the second half.

Salisbury was surprised by the shot, but not much escaped him for the rest of the day. The first-year goaltender knocked down several crucial Hawk shots early in the second half as the Crimson struggled.

"In the first half, we played the ball around the back well and that gave them time up front," Cochrane said. "In the second half, we didn't do that."

"The Harvard goalkeeper came up with three great saves," said Orr, who was without top attacker Vito Serafini and Captain Dwight Bronson. "He really hurt our game."

Tough Turf

Late in the second half, sophomore midfielder Jeremy Amen looked like a man protecting his turf. And, in fact, he was.

Amen, who rattled off back-to-back shots that gave Kostelis some of his toughest tests of the game, sat the bench for the first 25 minutes despite his status as a returning starter.

"We have a lot of players who are sitting on the bench who deserve to be on the field," Getman said.

Indeed, if depth was a problem last year, it's a blessing this season.

Amen and classmate Lenny Ilkhanoff saw less time yesterday than they did in most games last season. And it clearly wasn't because their skills were suffering. For the first time since he came to Harvard in 1987, Getman has a deep and virtually injury-free line-up.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard makes its big trip to Bloomington, Ind., this weekend to face returning national champion Indiana at 3 p.m. (EST) Sunday...D'Onofrio put in what Getman called his "best performance in years" and continues to lead the Crimson scoring list with two goals and an assist for five points...The Crimson had 15 shots to Hartford's 11.