The Harvard women's ice hockey team has set out this season with two goals in mind-to capture the Ivy title and make some waves in ECAC play.

After Tuesday night's 5-1 blitzing by Providence, the Crimson found out how difficult that task will be.

An easy 4-0 victory over Yale earlier in the week gave the Crimson confidence in its quest for the Ivy crown. As Tuesday's game against the seasoned Friars demonstrated, however, ECAC competition is far from a cakewalk.

Harvard was faced with disadvantages from the outset. Providence players have been practicing since early fall, while many Crimson players only have recently laced their skates after completing field hockey and soccer seasons.

The Friars have traditionally been one of the top three women's teams in the country and have never lost to an Ivy League team. This year, things seem to be no different. Although Harvard is a talented team on the rise, Harvard simply couldn't match Providence.

The Friars opened fire immediately with right wing Cammi Granato scoring after a sharp feed from Stephanie O'Sullivan at 2:08 of the first period. Minutes later Beth Beagan added a goal to give the Friars a quick 2-0 lead that they would not relinquish.

"In the first period we were shell-shocked, to say the least," senior forward Jen Minkus said. "Our previous games had been against much weaker teams."

Providence is stacked with talented players who quickly converted Harvard mistakes into scoring opportunites. The Friars' third-line winger, Granato, notched her second goal of the game late in the first period to give Providence a 3-0 advantage.

Men's Game vs. Colgate On Hold

In response to the hospitalization of Colgate Coach Terry Slater, the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference has postponed the Harvard men's hockey game against Colgate originally scheduled for Friday.

A new date for the contest has not be announced.

The Crimson's game against Cornell is now scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday.

After suffering a stroke Sunday evening, Slater, 53, has been resting in the intensive care unit at Crouse Memorial Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y.

The 1990 NCAA Coach of the Year, Slater is currently in his fifteenth year at Colgate, where he has compiled a 250-180-23 record.

Director of Athletics Fred Dunlap has named Associate Coach Brian Durocher interim head coach.