COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo--Despite occupying the top slot in the ECAC, the Harvard men's hockey team continued to falter in non-conference play, dropping a pair of games to No. 4 Colorado College (13-4-1, 8-4-0 WCHA) last weekend.

However, the Crimson (6-7-1, 5-3-1 ECAC) did not succumb quietly to the Tigers. Facing high altitudes out west, an Olympic-sized sheet and a handful of injuries, the Crimson's battered and beleaguered squad hung with Colorado during both games.

"Harvard played better than I expected," Colorado Coach Scott Owens said. "It was not your typical, non-conference Christmas affair. I thought we hung in there."

The Tigers blanked the Crimson 3-0 on Saturday, but the score did not reflect Harvard's effort. The absences of junior assistant captain Peter Capouch and classmate Graham Morrell were noticed at the blueline, but a solid all-around defensive effort, thanks in part to the much-anticipated return of rookie Kenny Smith, held Colorado to only 32 shots on goal.

The Crimson did not get the chances on Saturday that it generated during Friday night's contest. Harvard lost control of a 2-1 lead halfway through the second stanza and played catch-up for the rest of the game. The Tigers earned a 5-3 decision to bag the first of the series' two matches.

Colorado College 3, Harvard 0

The Crimson suffered its first shutout of the season at the hands of Colorado netminder Jeff Sanger. With his seventh career donut under his belt, Sanger not only led the Tigers to a clean sweep of the Crimson, but shattered the school's shutout record.

"We thought we could play with this team," sophomore center Dominic Moore said. "Not that we didn't have chances, but for some reason we couldn't put it by them tonight. It's all about luck and bounces, and they got a whole lot more than we did tonight." Compared to the previous night's action, Colorado's blueline employed a more efficient style of defense, limiting the Crimson to just 24 shots on goal.

"We didn't play great, but we played well. We bent but we didn't break," Owens said. "I think our defensive core was out of sync. We wanted them to simplify their game and they responded to the challenge."

Unlike Friday's game, Harvard did not get many quality chances to put the puck on net, and its offensive production suffered as a result. The Crimson had a few glimmers of hope, but was not able to capitalize.

About halfway through the second period, Captain Steve Moore split two defensemen in the slot and came in close for a shot, but Sanger was able to hold on for the save.

Not known for their goal scoring, a pair of fourth-line forwards provided the Tigers with all the offense it needed to secure the victory.

At 12:38, winger Shaun Winkler took the puck down the middle and dished to center Colin Stuart in the right circle. Stuart backhanded the pass past senior goaltender Oliver Jonas to put Colorado on the board.

An excellent transition team, the Tigers exploited the sparse Crimson defensive lapses to put a little distance between them on the scoreboard. Shortly after Jonas stole a two-on-none rush from Colorado, the Tigers lit the lamp again to up the score to 2-0.

With just under two minutes to play in the second stanza, Colorado's Mike Colgan took a hard shot on net. Jonas saw through the screen to make the initial save, but couldn't control the rebound, allowing winger Jesse Heerema to send home the rebound.

"We're a better team in transition when we pick off turnovers and go," Owens said. "We didn't convert on a few. We were a little cute."

Tigers' rookie winger Peter Sejna added a third tally in the final frame to seal the score at 3-0.

As usual, one of the Crimson's bright spots was its penalty kill unit. Ranked fourth in the country, Harvard boasts a 91 percent success rate when playing with a man down. The Crimson shut down all three of Colorado's power play chances on the night.

Colorado College 5, Harvard 3

In its first contest of the year against a WCHA team, Harvard had to make some quick adjustments to both the elevation and the ice at Colorado Springs World Arena.

However, it didn't appear that the high altitudes and Olympic sheet had many adverse effects on the Crimson's efforts.

The real problem was a severely hampered lineup. With junior wingers Jeff Stonehouse and Morrell out due to injuries, freshman blueliner Dave McCulloch sitting for a game disqualification, and sophomore center Brett Nowak absent to play on the U.S. Junior National Team, the Crimson was only able to muster three complete lines and a five-defenseman rotation.

Shortly after the start of the second period, the Crimson claimed its only lead of the series, going up

2-1 on the Tigers with a power play goal from Dominic Moore.

At 5:22, freshman winger Tim Pettit slid a pass from the point to the senior Moore behind the right faceoff circle. Steve Moore handed off to his brother in the slot, and Dominic Moore sent the pass across the goal mouth.

"We had a very nice power play goal," Mazzoleni said. "Steve [Moore] made a great pass to Dom [Moore] and he buried it."

Initially, matching tallies in the opening stanza from rookie winger Tyler Kolarik and Colorado's Chris Hartsburg knotted the Tigers and the Crimson at one goal apiece.

Colorado's offense overpowered Harvard only minutes later, and the Crimson couldn't hang on.

The Tigers evened the score 2-2 with their only power play goal of the series. At 6:24, Colorado winger Justin Morrison slid a pass to Heerema from behind the net, allowing him to sink a wide shot past Jonas.

Morrison was responsible for the go-ahead goal as well, notching an even strength goal just over one minute later. A hectic three-shot cycle followed the Tigers' second tally, as Colorado forwards danced around Harvard's flailing defense.

Jonas stoned defenseman Paul Manning's initial shot, but Morrison wristed the puck past the flopping goaltender at 7:37 to light the lamp for Colorado 3-2.

Sejna put Colorado up 4-2, notching the game-winning goal only minutes into the third period. At 2:15, Sejna and center Noah Clarke made a quick transition on a Crimson defensive breakdown, and rushed down the ice on a two-on-one break. With textbook execution, Clarke slid a pass across the slot to Sejna who netted the tally.

Frustration became evident and tensions mounted in the final frame, with the Crimson bearing the brunt of the penalty minutes. Officials handed Kolarik a ten-minute misconduct at 12:13, and Steve Moore a five-minute major for high-sticking. The younger Moore joined his brother in the sin bin only seconds later. Harvard railed against the Tigers and, with the incredible reflexes of Jonas, staved off a 4-3 penalty kill.

"I think it was a component of frustration and the way the game was called, but that's not an excuse," Mazzoleni said. "Cooler heads have to prevail."

The Crimson put itself back in the game at 14:44 when Dominic Moore emerged from the penalty box and set up Capouch with the Crimson's third and final goal of the night. A shorthanded tally, Moore wheeled down the ice and took a hard slapshot on goaltender Colin Zulianello. The high rebound bounced off Capouch's chest and into the net, making it 4-3.

Harvard's strategy to play the extra man with less than a minute to play did not go as planned. With Jonas on the bench, Tigers' winger Alex Kim slid a long shot down the ice to make it 5-3 with the empty net goal.

Heading into this weekend's contests, the Crimson has a lot to look forward to. For the first time all season, Harvard should suit a full lineup. It is expected that Stonehouse, Morrell and Capouch should return to the roster, and Smith has already secured a spot on the now-deep defensive rotation.

Although the Crimson could not shake its non-league woes--Harvard is 1-4 in out of conference play-- the trip out west solidified Harvard's status as a contender.

"I was proud of the way we competed," Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni said. "People got a little excited when we cracked the rankings. We're not there, but we competed with a top-five team. Is Colorado better than us? Yes. But is the difference that great? No."