This one hurt.

Go out into the numbing cold and slap your cheeks.

Go back inside and pour scalding water over your face.

Then, maybe, you'll be feeling just a tiny fraction of the discomfort that the Harvard men's hockey team suffered in its heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Rensselaer last night at Bright Hockey Center.

The Engineers (6-3-0 overall, 4-0-0 ECAC) scored with just 23 seconds left in regulation to win a game that the Crimson (3-4-1, 3-3-1) looked to have dominated for the final 15 minutes.

"It was a tough one," Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "It's frustrating, but we can't let that frustration get to us."

The play that decided the game and ended Harvard's 14-game ECAC unbeaten streak at home started with a turnover in the Crimson's defensive zone.

RPI's Craig Hamelin sent the puck to the right point, where captain Adam Bartell fired a shot towards a pile of players in front of the Harvard goal. Eric Healey got his stick on the disc and deflected it into the upper right corner past junior goalie Tripp Tracy.

Harvard players and fans went into shock.

RPI players and fans became ecstatic.

"We got the goal when it counted," first-year Engineer Coach Dan Fridgen said. "It was a big one...and felt especially good to be on the winning side."

It certainly didn't seem that Fridgen's club would escape with the win, as Harvard had erased a 3-1 Engineer lead midway through the third period.

First-year Doug Sproule deflected captain Ben Coughlin's power-play shot through the pads of goalie Mike Tamburro to cut the Crimson's deficit to 3-2 with 9:28 to play.

Shortly thereafter, freshman Henry Higdon worked hard in the offensive zone to keep the puck free and left it for Sproule behind the goal. Sproule centered in front to sophomore Stuart Swenson, who roofed the puck over Tamburro to even the contest only 2:05 after Sproule's tally.

Harvard kept putting on the pressure, but Tamburro made the saves when he had to. The Crimson generated 17 shots on net in the period, but it just could not score that final goal.

"We were getting a lot of shots on net, but we've got to start putting them in," Coughlin said. "That's the biggest area we can improve on.