"In retrospect, now that we've won, I'm glad the games were so hard, because they've made us a better team."

If Harvard was good enough to teach Colorado College some lessons, then it certainly should have learned something from the squad that jumped to No. 4 in the nation after the weekend.

The Crimson defense most definitely got schooled in maintaining positioning during the transition game. The Tigers forced several neutral zone turnovers and with one sharp pass, caught Harvard's defensemen too far up and an odd man rush ensued.

Such a misstep with about two minutes remaining in the second period on Saturday created a two-on-none break that resulted in a couple of spectacular saves by Jonas, before a rebound by Jesse Heerema eluded him.

But these are experiences that Harvard will tuck away and call upon when similar situations arise in the future.

"You get tired to hear me keep saying this, but you have to crawl, before you can walk," Mazzoleni said. "You don't change a program overnight, or even in one year."

From his hiring last year, Mazzoleni has sought to restore a winning tradition to Cambridge. The only way to do that is to throw his team against the elite of the nation and let them learn from the masters. Sad to say, one cannot get that education within the ECAC, which has justly earned its reputation as the doormat of the Division I conferences (I refuse to acknowledge the MAAC or CHA as true D-I divisions).

So Mazzoleni, in addition to bringing a top-recruiting class (and next year's group is showing signs of being equally impressive), made sure to put his team through the non-conference ringer.