SCHENECTADY, N.Y.--The Harvard men's hockey team had a little extra baggage to carry with it on its second (and shortest) of three annual trips to upstate New York: the burden to prove that its last three losses in four games was only a minor setback.

After Harvard's first loss of the season to Colgate, sophomore defenseman Peter Capouch said, "I don't think anyone expected us to go undefeated this year."

Probably not. But Harvard dropped a pair of games to Boston University and Brown, two teams that the Crimson was expected to beat.

Harvard had a mission going in to No. 8 Rensselaer and Union last weekend to re-ignite that flame that sparked its most successful start since the 1993-94 season.

And though it took one game to get its legs back, the Crimson's successful 5-1 stint against the Skating Dutchmen gave it something to build on again.

The loss to B.U. two weeks ago was almost excusable, given that it was a non-conference game after a ten-day respite. This match up was more for pride than points, and the Crimson was forced to swallow it as the Terriers claimed a 2-1 victory.

Every team has its share of good games and bad games. Though we have high expectations for Coach Mark Mazzoleni, his system is still new and the Crimson is bound to stumble a few times along the way.

However, that does not explain why Harvard took a 4-2 drumming at the hands of hapless Brown, a team who had yet to not a win and break a six-game losing streak.