Some people flew to Florida for the holiday weekend. Others went to Hawaii.

And with most vacations you seem to feel great when you leave but not so hot when you come back.

So went this past weekend for the Harvard women's hockey team, except that its sojourn took it not to Florida or Hawaii, but rather to good old Providence, R.I.

Harvard (12-9-2, 8-4-2 ECAC) bumped off a strong Providence squad Saturday afternoon, 6-5, but it came out tired against Brown the next day and lost by a 5-1 count.

"We came out on fire against Providence," co-captain Winkie Mleczko said. "But we were a lot flatter and tired [Sunday]."

For the second consecutive week, the Crimson earned a point against a squad it had never beaten. Harvard tied New Hampshire last week, 2-2, its first point in 15 lifetime games against UNH.

That paled in comparison to the Providence win.

The Friars held a 16-0-1 series record over the Crimson before Saturday's match at Schneider Arena commenced. But the Crimson came out strong, scored early, built a two-goal lead midway through the game and hung on for the 6-5 victory.

"They always take us lightly," said junior Holly Leitzes, who scored two goals in the game. "We were a little intimidated, but we scored first and threw them off."

Harvard gave Providence good reason to worry pretty much from the opening face-off.

The Crimson controlled play and struck just 56 seconds into the match. Sophomore A.J. Mleczko spun around the Friar net and dumped the puck in front of the goal to junior Stacy Kellogg, who fired it into the mesh.

The Friars retaliated later in the first period and took a 2-1 lead early in the second, but that's when the floodgates opened.

A.J. Mleczko and Leitzes were unstoppable; each scored two goals in the middle period. Mleczko and Leitzes's were the only four Harvard shots in the second, but they all lit the lamp, courtesy of some Providence defensive lapses and crisp Harvard passing and skating.

The Friars cut the lead to 5-4 early in the third period, but A.J. Mleczko completed her fifth hat trick of the season, with a high-rising shot with 2:21 left to seemingly seal the win.

But the victory didn't come easily.