The second came right after the puck slippedoff B.C. sophomore forward Amber Bobin's stick toshort-circuit a breakaway--the Eagles' bestoffensive flash of the period.

Botterill recovered the disc and darted throughthe neutral zone on a two-on-one with sophomoreforward Tammy Shewchuk. Botterill, who finishedthe game with a goal and three assists, trappedher defenseman up high with her pass to Shewchuk,who walked in on Nentwig and rung it top shelf.

"B.C. was laying back and not challenging us onthe breakout," Notman said. "That allowed us togive each other nice passes and make each otherlook good."

B.C. took a timeout after Shewchuk's goal, butthat did not stop the bleeding, and Mleczkocontinued to lead the way.

She redirected a Shewchuk pass at 9:10 for hersecond of the game and completed her hat trick ona three-on-two rush, catching B.C. in a linechange. Mleczko received the pass from Botterillin the slot and rifled it into the far corner at13:32 for a commanding, and familiar, 5-0 lead.

"You have to be happy for [Mleczko]," Stonesaid. "The things she has done to come back andlead this team along with [co-captain] ClaudiaAsano have been great."

The Eagles struggled to clear the defensivezone all night. Freshman goalie Alison Kuusistohad a relatively easy time turning aside all 19B.C. shots for her first career shutout.

Her only precarious moment came with 4:01 leftin the game when a rebound sat in the goal creasefor a tense moment, before she covered it up.

"Overall, we were all into [the game], wewanted it." Kuusisto said. "I just focused andplayed my game. I didn't have to make any bigsaves."

With the ultimate outcome no longer in doubt,the hitting and ruggedness intensified in thethird period. Nine minor penalties were handed outin the final frame--three times as many as thefirst two combined.

Regardless of the number of skaters each teamhad on the ice, the Crimson continued to cycle andsend shots on goal. Botterill, Asano and freshmanforward Crystal Brown each struck in the thirdperiod, with Botterill connecting twice.

Brown's redirection of freshman defensemanAngela Ruggiero's point shot with 11:55 remainingwas the first goal of her Harvard career.

After Botterill's second goal at 13:34 on anassist by Shewchuk, Nentwig was replaced byfreshman Sharon Vantuyl.

"The Beanpot championship is criticallyimportant to any Boston team," Stone said. "It'sone of our goals to be an Ivy League champion, anECAC champion and then a national champion."

The win extends Harvard's winning streak to aremarkable 17 games. It comes just two days afterthe Crimson retained its top ranking by stoppingthen-No. 2 UNH 4-2. Ironically, for all the gloryand exuberance of a Beanpot title, that may not beHarvard's most important game this week.