After devouring Red Raider cookies for 20 or so straight minutes, the Harvard men's hockey team decided to take a short nap. It woke up with an awful tummy ache, which could have turned into something much worse.

Like an ulcer, or an exploded appendix.

The Crimson, which munched its way to a five-goal lead, snapped out of Dreamland just in time to salvage a 5-4 win last night over Colgate at Bright Hockey Center.

Instead of sleeping easy going into today's battle with Cornell, Harvard players went to bed last night sick to their stomachs and reliving a nightmare featuring big ugly monsters named Brown, deBlois and Wilde.

"We dodged a bullet tonight, gentlemen," Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni told doughnut-stuffed scribes after the game. "We were awful lucky to escape with a win. Colgate controlled this game from the middle of the second period on."

Mommy, get the Pepto-Bismol.

Son, I just hope this will teach you a lesson.

Harvard started the game whistling "New York, New York." A weekend against two of the weakest ECAC squads seemed like dessert after a tough win over Brown and a tough loss to Boston University.

At the beginning, it certainly seemed like the Crimson wasn't going to get caught with its hands in the cookie jar--not before getting a full stomach, at least.

In the first period, Harvard took a 2-0 lead thanks to junior Chris Baird's deflection and senior Matt Mallgrave's slider from the side of the crease.

Harvard netminder Tripp Tracy meanwhile occupied himself by tossing aside the black rubber biscuits that Colgate sent from center ice during the first half of the contest.

A Harvard win seemed guaranteed by junior Brian Farrell seven minutes into the second when he tore through two defenders and gave Captain Ted Drury the honor of placing the sugar-coated puck on the top-shelf.

Toss in a cannonball slapshot by Sean McCann that notched the top corner and Ben Coughlin's grounder past Raider goalie Shawn Murray: Harvard's little box of confectioneries seemed stuffed and ready for Christmas.

Colgate started biting back, though. With less than seven minutes left in the second; junior Craig deBlois tipped home a wide shot by Dan Gardner.

In the last minute of the period, defender Alan Brown cut the lead to three goals with a slapshot that bounced noisily against the crossbar and pipes after passing over Tracy's blocker.

The third period just got worse. Two goals in 32 seconds and the Red Raiders actually looked ready to head home with the loot.

Harvard had lost its sweet tooth and while most dentists might not recommend Colgate, the Crimson was suffering from a nasty toothache.

Forwards weren't backchecking; the penalty-killing unit feel apart; Tracy got temporarily unnerved. The Bright Hockey Center faithful were getting queasy.

So Tomassoni called a timeout and talked--well, screamed--about the little things.

While not overwhelming, Harvard still managed to stick together and keep down their cookies.

"We definitely got a couple bad breaks," Farrell said afterwards. "It worries me that we're so much better than the other team but we're not beating them easily. But I wasn't worried about winning at all. When it gets close, we just put the lock down and shut it down."

Maybe it wasn't that convincing, but the prescribed medication worked. With Harvard forwards following their men, Colgate was unable to score an equalizer.

"It's a good sign that we were able to get the win," Tomassoni said. "But we're in December. We've had game like this before. There comes a point where we've got to put the other team away."

From the Red Raiders to the big Red, this supposed cake walk is turning tumultuous. Tonight at 7 p.m. Harvard hosts Cornell--who upset Brown, 4-2, on the road last night.

"We stopped working [against Colgate] after we got a big lead," Baird said. "We'll have to do better than that to beat Cornell. That they beat Brown just amplifies how hard we'll have to work."

HARVARD, 5-4 at Bright Hockey Center Harvard  2  3  0  --  5 Colgate  0  2  2  --  4

G: Colgate--Craig deBlois, Alan Brown, Clayton Fahey, Brent Wilde; Harvard--Chris Baird, Matt Malgrave, Ted Drury, Sean McCann, Ben Coughlin. A: Colgate--Dan Gardner (2), Andrew Dickson, Wilde, Bob Haddock, Earl Cronan, Bruce Gardiner; Harvard--Lou Body, Brian Farrell (2), Steve Flomenhoft (2), Tom Holmes, Baird, Perry Cohagen (2). S: Colgate--Shawn Murray 16; Harvard--Tripp Tracy 30.

ECAC Scores

Cornell 5, Brown 3

RPI 3, SLU 1

Clarkson 5, Union 2

Princeton 2, Yale 1