ITHACA, NY--Well over three-thousand fans went to Lynah Rink last night for a hockey game, they never expected a boxing match.

A mere two minutes into the game, junior forward Ethan Philpott set the tone when he drove a Cornell player hard into the boards. Tempers flared, play stopped and bodies flew. Forty seconds later, junior Geordie Hyland, Cornell senior Jason Kendall and referee Jeff Fulton were still struggling on the ice while the Big Red fans cheered on.

"We focused on not backing down to [Cornell's] physical play," Doug Sproule said. "It's part of our game as well. We really succeed when we play the body and that was our mission tonight."

Full-fledged brawls delayed the game two more times in that period alone and when the book was closed on the first 20 minutes, the score sheet registered 11 penalties and one goal for Cornell--the first hard blow of the game.

A split second defensive breakdown in front of the Harvard net left senior defenseman Marco Ferrari unable to find his bearings. Taking advantage of the confusion, Big Red senior Steve Wilson, positioned to the left of freshman Harvard goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo, laid a pass down in front of the net. Sophomore Kyle Knopp collected the puck, faked right around Ferrari, went left and scored down the middle.

The bell for the first round then sounded.

The second period wasn't nearly as exciting if you were Howard Cosell, but this time the hockey took center stage. In complete contrast to the start, action was continuous, replete with solid checking, odd-man rushes and goaltending showcases on both sides of the ice.

"The beginning of the game was more of a feeling out process," Sproule said. "You're not going to spend the whole game having fights in front of the net. The game just settled down into more of a flow."

But some things remained the same.

Again, with only 1:25 remaining in the period and the zamboni waiting impatiently at the gates, Cornell struck its second blow--this one with an exclamation point.

Big Red center Vinnie Auger exploded down the right side of the ice into the Crimson zone. In text-book fashion, Auger whipped the puck across the goalline onto the stick of an unmarked teammate Matt Cooney who one-timed Cornell's second goal into the back of the net.

"The second [goal] was a breakdown in our coverage because they were attacking," Tomassoni said. "You obviously can't do that."

That signaled the end of round two.

The third round decision resoundingly went to Harvard. The Crimson dominated play and finally landed a solid punch seven minutes into the final period.

Bullet shots by sophomore Craig Adams and freshman Matt Scorsune forced Cornell goaltender Jason Elliott to his stomach. Captain Ashlin Halfnight ripped Scorsune's rebound into the open net, narrowing the deficit to one.

"It was just a heck of a game," Tomassoni said. "I thought we played very, very well and I even thought that we had it at the end there too to tie it up."

Unfortunately for the Crimson, one round does not a victory make as the team exited Lynah Rink with yet another close frustrating loss.

"It was one of our very best games of the year for 60 minutes of hockey," Tomassoni said. "It is hard for these guys because they aren't going to see a whole lot from their good play and their hard work when it doesn't show up as a 'w'."

Unlike previous outings, however, the effort was visible, the spirit evident, but as has been the case all season long, Harvard scoring played only a cameo.

With Colgate waiting in the wings for tonight's contest, the Crimson will have to rebound from last night's bout, taking solace in that fact that it is still firmly standing. Harvard  1 Cornell  2