"They've been primarily a young team the last couple of years," Tomassoni said. "They're an older junior-senior team right now."

Unlike the players, the Big Red's coach is not a returning veteran. This is head coach Mike Schafer's inaugural season at Cornell.

"With a new coach, you don't know what to expect," Tomassoni said. "There's a tremendous rivalry [between Harvard and Cornell]. They'll be pumped to play Harvard."

"Cornell's a difficult place to play," Tracy said.

In Harvard's 2-1 victory at Cornell in February, the Lynah Rink faithful were a tad overzealous in hurling stuff onto the ice. The team was assessed a penalty, and the Crimson used the power play to score the game-winner.

Coming off its trouncing of Brown last weekend, there isn't much the Crimson plans to change when it plays Colgate and Cornell.

"We'd like to stay the same, do exactly what we did last weekend--three solid periods," Tomassoni said.

"[Coach Tomassoni] emphasizes that we can't think too much about the other team," said captain Brad Konik said, who racked up a goal and three assists against the Bears. "The way our system works, if everybody does their job, we can stop anyone."

But Harvard can't afford to rest on its laurels too much.

"We've only played one game," Tracy said. "So we're cautiously optimistic. But it's a long season."

Much of the credit for last week's victory belongs to the defense, both in the neutral zone and behind the blue line. Several of Harvard's goals came off turnovers created by the tough Crimson pressure defense.

Harvard also allowed only 14 shots on goal in the contest, while it pelted Brown netminder Mike Parsons with 32 shots.

"We put pressure on them with the forecheck," Konik said. "When they got the puck, they felt the heat."

This level of effort is something the Crimson will have to continue if its season is to be a success.

"We have a lot of talent, but no real stars," Adams said. "The key to success is a teamwork-based game and hard work."