LAKE PLACID, N.Y.--After earning its first trip in three years to Lake Placid for the ECAC tournament, the Harvard men's hockey team was poised to make a run for the post-season championship and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA finals.

However, the path to the conference title went straight through Cornell. Again.

A disheartening trend emerged during the 1995-96 season, as the Big Red defeated the Crimson 2-1 in the ECAC championship title match. Since then, Cornell (16-12-5, 11-8-3 ECAC) has thwarted the Crimson's efforts to advance in each of its next three post-season match-ups.

The Big Red ousted the Crimson (16-15-2, 12-8-2 ECAC) in the quarterfinals at the close of the 1996-97 season and handed Harvard a series sweep last year at Lynah Rink.

Last Friday, the Crimson faced off against Cornell in the semifinals round of the ECAC tournament, but the neutral ice could not break the curse. A rare burst of offense in the second period lifted the Big Red over Harvard 5-2, halting the Crimson's post-season plans.

Harvard battled back Saturday night against Dartmouth (16-14-4, 10-8-4 ECAC) in the consolation game and scored a pair of minor victories to close out the season. The Crimson triumphed over the Big Green, 3-2, in overtime to score an overall record above .500 and earned Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni his 250th career victory.

"We had three goals this season," Mazzoleni said. "One was to have home ice for the playoffs, the second was to advance to Lake Placid, and the third was to have a winning record. We accomplished all three."

Harvard 3, Dartmouth 2 (OT)