COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo--From the second Harvard stepped off the plane, it had to know it was not in Cambridge any more.

Perhaps it was the picturesque backdrop of Pikes Peak--or the shortness of breath that 6,000 feet above sea level induces, but its weekend set against then-No. 6 Colorado College was anything but typical.

The Tigers masquerade a minor league hockey team as a college program. Its arena, the Colorado Springs World Arena, also houses professional teams. A laser light show greets the home squad as it steps on the ice. And the whole place was virtually devoid of students--from the grandstands to the pressbox, and some might unfairly say, to the ice.

[The pregame meal for the media was second only to the spread offered by the Fleet Center for the Beanpot Tournament--and far better than the Pizza Ring fare offered at Bright.]

None of these trappings are necessary to produce a successful college hockey program. But they were entirely mandatory for the development of Harvard's.

The Tigers play a skilled offensive game that nobody in the ECAC has. Their ability to zip the puck across the ice in precise fashion--always looking for the open man--created a nightmare scenario for Harvard's beleagured defense and for senior goalie Oli Jonas.

The chemistry between Justin Morrison and Peter Sejna on the top line was a thing of beauty as the pair created a series of odd man rushes. The success of the two was particulary amazing since Morrison is a senior and Sejna a rookie.

Their unselfish and skilled play accounted for half of the Tigers' goals on the weekend and created blistering chances--especially for Morrison--that only through the good graces of Jonas did not find the back of the net.

Still, while Harvard had the chance to pick up some offensive pointers, its defense performed remarkably well despite adverse circumstances.

Harvard only fielded five defensemen last Friday due to injury and a suspension to freshman Dave McCulloch. On Saturday, McCulloch returned, but the Crimson was reduced to five again when its best bluliner, junior assistant captain Pete Capouch, went down with a concussion thanks to 6'3 goon Mike Colgan. One of the five remaining defensemen was freshman Kenny Smith, who delivered on his promise in his long-awaited debut.

"I was proud of the effort our team put forth," Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni said. "We had problems with out positioning, doing things that have hurt us all year...But we battled hard and competed."

The Crimson defense, while not shutting down the Tigers, played well enough to give the team a chance to win both games. Harvard trailed only 3-2 entering the third period on Friday and was down just 2-0 on Saturday. More surprisingly, C.C. scored just once on the power play.

It caught the attention of Colorado Coach Scott Owens:

"I certainly did not expect this weekend to be that difficult," he said. "I can't believe that they are a .500 team. [On Friday], I thought Pete Capouch was the best player on the ice."

But the kicker was his followup comment:

"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.

Few teams have a harder out-of-conference schedule than Harvard. In addition to the standard Beanpot fare of Boston University, now-No. 2 Boston College and Northeastern, he added No. 6 New Hampshire and made sure the Christmas trip would be tough.

The losses may be disheartening now, but Harvard definitely improved as it skated through the gauntlet. Union won't seem nearly so bad when it strolls into Bright tonight.

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

If Harvard closes the gap further during the second half of the season, it won't be flying up any more mountains. It will already be on top.