The third period just got worse. Two goals in 32 seconds and the Red Raiders actually looked ready to head home with the loot.
Harvard had lost its sweet tooth and while most dentists might not recommend Colgate, the Crimson was suffering from a nasty toothache.
Forwards weren't backchecking; the penalty-killing unit feel apart; Tracy got temporarily unnerved. The Bright Hockey Center faithful were getting queasy.
So Tomassoni called a timeout and talked--well, screamed--about the little things.
While not overwhelming, Harvard still managed to stick together and keep down their cookies.
"We definitely got a couple bad breaks," Farrell said afterwards. "It worries me that we're so much better than the other team but we're not beating them easily. But I wasn't worried about winning at all. When it gets close, we just put the lock down and shut it down."
Maybe it wasn't that convincing, but the prescribed medication worked. With Harvard forwards following their men, Colgate was unable to score an equalizer.
"It's a good sign that we were able to get the win," Tomassoni said. "But we're in December. We've had game like this before. There comes a point where we've got to put the other team away."
From the Red Raiders to the big Red, this supposed cake walk is turning tumultuous. Tonight at 7 p.m. Harvard hosts Cornell--who upset Brown, 4-2, on the road last night.
"We stopped working [against Colgate] after we got a big lead," Baird said. "We'll have to do better than that to beat Cornell. That they beat Brown just amplifies how hard we'll have to work."
HARVARD, 5-4 at Bright Hockey Center Harvard 2 3 0 -- 5 Colgate 0 2 2 -- 4
G: Colgate--Craig deBlois, Alan Brown, Clayton Fahey, Brent Wilde; Harvard--Chris Baird, Matt Malgrave, Ted Drury, Sean McCann, Ben Coughlin. A: Colgate--Dan Gardner (2), Andrew Dickson, Wilde, Bob Haddock, Earl Cronan, Bruce Gardiner; Harvard--Lou Body, Brian Farrell (2), Steve Flomenhoft (2), Tom Holmes, Baird, Perry Cohagen (2). S: Colgate--Shawn Murray 16; Harvard--Tripp Tracy 30.
ECAC Scores
Cornell 5, Brown 3
RPI 3, SLU 1
Clarkson 5, Union 2
Princeton 2, Yale 1