Catamount center Ryan Miller took the puck at the top of Harvard's zone and skated right through two defenders, breaking clear right in front of Jonas. Miller beat Jonas high to the left side, and the game was tied.

And before the Crimson realized what had happened, it was losing.

Just forty-two seconds later, Catamount center Patrick sharp slipped behind a confused Harvard defense. Jonas was left on an island again, and Sharp slipped the puck by him to give Vermont its first lead of the game.

Winger J.F. Caudron sealed the game with an empty-net goal at 19:32.

The Crimson was done in by its season-long Achilles heel--defensive mistakes from an ineffective, inexperienced blueline.

"We're very, very vulnerable back there," Mazzoleni said. "At times, we collapsed back there."

The game had the makings of a shootout from the opening faceoff. And the first period featured non-stop, end-to-end hockey with numerous scoring chances for both sides.

Harvard struck first. After a Catamount attack, freshman winger Tyler Kolarik took the puck near the left boards, shed the defender on him and raced-up ice alone. Allen stopped Kolarik's first shot, but not the second at 4:09.