"We just wanted to win," Ruggiero said. "Silva played great and we didn't bury her rebounds, but we have to shoot the puck as much as possible. We knew that, if we worked as a team, we'd win."

"We've been up-and-down recently," Stone said. "But our performance tonight was not a fluke. Everyone came up big in a big game."

Last night's game will not count in the conference standings. If the season ended today, however, Harvard would host Northeastern in the first round of the ECAC Tournament. It would be the third meeting between the two teams at Bright Hockey Center this season.

Harvard will be hard-pressed to catch No. 1 Brown, which has a six-point lead in the standings with just five conference games remaining. If the Bears win the regular-season title, the Crimson must win the ECAC Tournament to get an automatic bid to the AWCHA national championships in Boston March 24 and 25.

But the playoff picture can wait. For now, the Crimson can revel in its second-straight Beanpot title. Last night Harvard showed it had the best offense in Boston, and it has the trophy to prove it.