In the words of Coach John Dooley, the Harvard women's hockey team "got their introduction to the very best in women's hockey."

It came in the form of a formidable Northeastern squad, which handed Harvard a 4-1 loss yesterday afternoon at the Bright Hockey Center.

Dooley looked upon the game as a learning experience for the team's eight freshmen. "When you play a team of that caliber, it will only help you get better," he said.

The teams fought evenly until the last five minutes of the first period, when Northeastern took advantage of some loose coverage by the Harvard defense and scored three quick goals.

"They are a fast team, and they always had a wing crashing on the net," sophomore forward Stacy Kellogg said. "We didn't have our coverages right."

"We'll learn from that," Dooley said. "Next time, we'll be covering them really tight."

Dooley was impressed by Huskies' play. "This was the best I've ever seen a Northeastern team play against us."

Harvard's only goal came in the middle of the third period, when sophomore forward Megan Hall recovered her own blocked shot in front of the goal and hit the followup.

The team had several other opportunities. They had 11 shots in the first period. In the third, Kellogg saw two shots deflect off the post. "The game was closer than the score indicates," Kellogg said.

Junior goalkeeper Erin Villiotte played a strong game in the face of the relentless Northeastern attack. "She kept us in the game," Kellogg said.

Despite the loss, Dooley is upbeat about the prospects for his squad.

"Sometimes you're disappointed by a loss," he said. "Not today."