To come out an top, you have to start quickly and stay strong throughout the race.

The Harvard women's hockey team looked as though it might stick with the pack and capture its last ever Ivy League title but in the end its endmance faltered.

After leading the Ivies for much of the season. Harvard left its title hopes in upstate New York with a heart breaking 2-1 loss to Cornell on Sunday.

"For some season we always do had on these long load trips," said Crimson center Fiz Ward. "We said off really slowly and it takes us until halfway through the game to get going."

Harvard came on strong late, but by then it was too late to make up an-early two goal deficit.

Cornell, pumped up from a victory over fourth place Dartmouth the day before, wasn't in the mood to make things any easier for the Crimson.

In fact, the squad that floundered to a 1 loss at Bright Center in December was nowhere to be seen on Sunday.

Transfer student Patricia Bauman, formerly of the University of New Hampshire had a hand in both of the afternoons goals.

Also new is the confident play of goalie Sandy Gilbert, who won the starting role in net from senior Nadme Wormsbacker and registered 21 saves against Harvard.

The Big Red jumped ahead right away, as Bauman scored on the game's first shift.

Center Amy Stanzin passed the puck in front of the goal, where it knocked off a Crimson defender's slate. Bauman promptly tipped it through the crowd and past net-minder Iracy Kimmel to make the score 1-0, Cornell.

"It was just a matter of their starting to skate right away." Harvard's Christine Dooley said. "It wasn't a great goal, but we just weren't ready for them yet."

Eleven minutes later the roles reversed as Stanzin tallied off an assist from Bauman.

"She was coming down the ice and the defense shifted" her way off angle." Ward said, "but she managed to hit the far post."

Neither squad scored again until the beginning of the third stanza, when Harvard finally started to warm up.