If at first you don't succeed, the old adage goes, try, try again.

The Harvard women's hockey team tried for the third time this season to defeat Northeastern yesterday in the finals of the 16th women's Beanpot tournament at Matthews Arena, but came up on the short-end of a 6-2 decision.

"They're a wonderful hockey team," head coach John Dooley said of the Northeastern Huskies, who have won 11 of the 16 Women's Beanpot tournaments.

Despite having lost to the Huskies 4-1 in a regular-season contest and 2-1 in last week's Beanpot first-round double-elimination match, the Crimson--for fleeting moments in the second period--appeared to have Northeastern on the ropes.

Down 1-0 for most of the opening stanza, the Crimson knotted the game at 7:36 of the second on a power-play goal by sophomore Stacey Kellogg, who was assisted by co-captain Joey Alissi and sophomore Holly Leitzes.

Alissi moved in from the left circle and slid a pass through the crease, where Kellogg tipped it in past Husky goalie Kimberly Flatt just 14 seconds into the Crimson power-play.

The goal shifted the momentum in Harvard's favor for the first time, and with Alissi and Kellogg continuing to create havoc in front of the Husky net-minder, the Crimson had several chances to take the lead.

The Huskies regained their composure, however, and punctured the Crimson's hopes at 11:25 of the second.

Husky forward Angela Scerra slid the puck in the net after Harvard's netminder junior Erin Villiotte lost control of it outside the crease.

The goal gave Northeastern a 2-1 lead.

Any chances the Crimson might have had to pull themselves back into the game were dashed later in the second period when Husky Rayanne Conway intercepted a cross-ice pass by Leitzes in the Harvard zone, broke in uncontested on Villiotte and fiveholed the puck for a short-handed goal at 13:13.

Content with their two-goal lead, the Huskies went to a more physical style of play and kept the Crimson off-balance the rest of the way.

"It was a lot more physical then what we're used to," Dooley said. "Although I think the refs were very inconsistent in their calls and [Northeastern] got the best of them."

"It was very physical," freshman A.J. Mleczko said, "but I grew up playing physically so it wasn't that bad for me."

The game featured some defensive miscues by the Crimson deep in their own zone which cost it four goals on the night.