CANTON, N.Y.--Don't look now, but the Harvard men's hockey team just won--and this time when it counted.

In the last nine games of the regular season, Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni has repeatedly stressed how the team has steadily improved. Yet each of those nine contests produced the same result: a Harvard loss.

Needless to say, the best time to turn such a streak around is in the opening game of the ECAC playoffs, and last night the sixth-seeded Crimson (11-18-1) did just that in a 5-2 victory over third-seeded St. Lawrence (19-11-3) at a stunned Appleton Arena.

"The playoffs are a whole new season," Tomassoni said. "And we have a lot to show for it."

The first period began with a lot of end-to-end play, with Harvard pouring the early pressure on Saint goaltender Clint Owen.

St. Lawrence's potent duo, Burke Murphy and Paul DiFrancesco, would get a major chance on a Saint power play halfway through the first stanza. Although the Crimson killed off the power play chance, Harvard had trouble regaining the momentum.

As if ending the misery--with only eight minutes left in the period--the Saints were nestled in the Crimson zone. Senior Jeff Kungle knifed a pass to Murphy on the left point, and the Saints' captain ripped a shot at senior goalie Tripp Tracy. Before Tracy could react, Thomas Cullen tipped the puck in for a 1-0 St. Lawrence lead.

Harvard retaliated, however. Freshman Craig Adams, on his way to the bench after a long shift, knocked the puck forward across the blue line to senior Kirk Nielsen. Nielsen powered across the ice towards the right post where he whipped a pass to the opposite pipe right on the stick of a streaking freshman Craig MacDonald. MacDonald then knocked in the tying goal with only 3:24 left in the first.

The opening period ended with the teams still deadlocked at one. Harvard got an unlucky break midway through the second period, when sophomore Henry Higdon drove down the ice on a shorthanded bid, but was viciously taken down by a St. Lawrence defender. A no-call by the referee spurred a Saints' attack, which eventually penned Higdon and the rest of his tired shorthanded unit deep in the Harvard zone.

Within seconds, St. Lawrence's Scott Stevens slid a pass down to the left goal-post to Troy Creurer, whose feed to teammate Ryan Cassidy on the right post gave St. Lawrence a 2-1 lead.

But that was the last lead the Saints would hold. Off a face-off to the right of Owen, Adams barreled right through the center of the circle and broke right in front of net. All alone, Adams, roofed the puck over Owen's left shoulder to tie the game at 2-2 with less than two minutes remaining in the second.

But again the period ended with the teams deadlocked. The game would come down to a third-period show-down, and the Crimson had only won one of the seven games during the regular season in which the score was tied after 40 minutes of play.

"For us to get a lead like we did early in the third period was a boost," Tracy said. "I don't remember the last time we had a lead in the third period, and I think we did a great job of not relaxing after we got the lead."

Harvard has been outplaying teams in the third period for a long time, and finally the work paid off. In an offensively explosive period, the Crimson wrapped the game up with three unanswered goals in the final stanza.

The first gem came only 1:35 gone in the period. Senior Jason Karmanos broke down the left side of the ice towards Owen, drawing the St. Lawrence defender. At the last moment, Karmanos slid the puck to a streaking Higdon, who put away what proved to be the game-winning goal.

The last two tallies were definitely icing on the cake. On a power play with just under eight minutes left, Nielsen maneuvered the puck over to freshman defender Ben Storey, who first faked a shot, skated around the fallen St. Lawrence player and then ripped a shot into the back of the net for a power-play goal and a 4-2 Crimson lead.

Higdon provided the nail in the coffin, wristing the rebound of his original shot past Owen for the final 5-2 score.

"Now there's no doubt in our team that we can beat teams in the playoffs," Higdon said.

"In my opinion, our record doesn't indicate what type of a team we are," Tomassoni said. "We have played well in that nine-game streak, but the puck would not go in for us at the right times."

The puck certainly did so last night, so with two points under its belt, the Crimson enter tonight's game looking for a win or a tie to advance the squad to the ECAC Final Four in Lake Placid next weekend. A St. Lawrence win will force a winner-take-all matchup here tomorrow night.

"It's important that we not be satisfied with this win and come out strong tomorrow night," Tracy said.

Rebecca A. Blaeser contributed to the reporting of this story. Harvard  5 St. Lawrence  2

HARVARD, 5-2 at Appleton Arena, Canton, NY Harvard  1  1  3  -  5 St. Lawrence  1  1  0  -  2

First Period

SLU--Cullen 6 (B. Murphy, Kungle) 11:10.

Har--MacDonald 7 (Nielsen, Adams) 16:36.

Second Period

SLU--Cassidy 7 (Stevens, Creurer) 8:12. (PPG)

Har--Adams 7 (Higdon) 18:31.

Third Period

Har--Higdon 12 (Karmanos) 1:35.

Har--Storey 2 (Nielsen, Halfnight) 12:02. (PPG)

Har--Higdon 13 (unassisted) 14:06.

Saves: Har--Tracy 10-15-7--32; SLU--Owen 16-12-11--39.

Power Play: Har--1/4 ; SLU--1/2.

Attendance: 2,220