So close and yet so far. Walter Brown Arena is a walkable trip across the river for Harvard students. The hockey team that plays there, second-ranked Boston University, is a world apart.

Boston University hockey is a big-time program with big-time pretensions. It is athletic scholarships and high expectations, multiple national championship banners and Beanpot domination.

From the moment the two teams took the ice to loosen up for last night's game, it was clear they held different attitudes. The grandstanding Terriers chose to skate with their helmets off. If ever there was a swagger to skating strides, the BU players tried to capture it.

The Terriers' swagger did not lack vocal fan support. Despite the fact that the university's scheduled Thanksgiving vacation began on Monday, the stands were filled with students and other local partisans. Faces were painted black and red; B.U. hockey jerseys dotted the crowd.

In the midst of it all, the Crimson players kept their helmets on and any egos gracefully in check.

When B.U. fans began chanting "Harvard Sucks" at the game's end, one could content oneself only with thinking that had Harvard fans showed up in number, they would have answered with the cheer "That's all right, that's OK. You're gonna work for us someday."

So far and yet so close. The lopsided 5-1 score that marked the Terriers' triumph is not as hopeless as it sounds. Just ask B.U. coach Jack Parker.

"I was absolutely flabbergasted by the speed of the first period," Parker said. "It was probably one of the quickest games we've played all year. I thought we were back on our heels the first 10 minutes saying, 'Wow look at these guys go.'"

"I thought that Harvard had the better of the play in the first period," he added. "They had a lot of guys who were booming it [towards the goal]. They were just missing."

In the first period-and-a-half, Harvard held its own and left much to be admired.

During the Crimson's first penalty kill, senior captain Ashlin Halfnight had a great shift and was able to send the puck into the B.U. end.

"I think we started the year off very raw, very inexperienced [in penalty killing] like everywhere else and I think we've made tremendous strides there," Harvard coach Ronn Tommassoni said.

Add the performance of freshman goalie J.R. Prestifilippo to the list of positives. Forget the five goals, and consider the fact that Prestifilippo was facing one of the most explosive offenses in the country.

B.U. is averaging 5.7 goals per contest and possesses a legitimate contender for the Hobey Baker Award in junior center Chris Drury.

Harvard's critics will cite the team's defensive breakdowns, long scoring droughts and inability to capitalize on a five-on-three power play opportunity as evidence that the Crimson has to go a greater distance than it has already come.

True enough, but at least the team appears headed in the right direction.