It was a rude awakening for the No. 5 Harvard women's hockey team when junior co-captain Jennifer Botterill's slapper skidded just wide of the

goal mouth as the buzzer sounded to end Saturday's game against No. 3 St. Lawrence.

The Crimson (9-6-0, 9-2-0 ECAC) had done everything it could to send the game to overtime. After a timeout with four seconds left, Harvard Coach Katey Stone sent six skaters into the faceoff to the left of the St. Lawrence

net. Co-captain Angie Francisco won the draw to Botterill, who fired a near-perfect shot from just outside the left circle. But it wasn't enough.

"We did everything right on that play," Stone said. "We practiced that draw all week and we put ourselves in a position to tie at the end of the game. I can't be disappointed because we're learning how to execute and getting better every game."

Harvard has plenty of time--and potential--to get better, but on Saturday, the Crimson lost to a better team. The Saints are 9-1-2 since losing their first two games to Minnesota-Duluth, which is now ranked No. 2 in the country. With a tie against No. 1 Dartmouth and wins over five ranked teams thus far, St. Lawrence is a young team on the rise.

"We're still getting over the hurdle of recognizing that we're expected to beat good teams on the road," said St. Lawrence Coach Paul Flanagan. "We were nervous playing a team like Harvard and we showed it in the first period. But we settled down, made some adjustments and got the breaks we needed to win the game."

The Saints have all the ingredients to beat a high-scoring team like the Crimson. Harvard seemingly controlled the action for the first 40 minutes, outshooting St. Lawrence 27-13, but the Crimson went into the second intermission clinging to a one-goal lead. The Saints were able to slow the tempo in the final 20 minutes--both teams had just eight shots on goal in the third period--and that was the difference in the game.