BOSTON--The ghost of Cornell simply will not leave Harvard. Two days after falling hard from first place in a bruising, 2-1,defeat at Bright Hockey Center, the lumps the Big Red left were visible as Harvard limped from one end of the ice to the other.

At least, I'm hoping that was the reason because the Crimson's performance last night was simply inexcusable. Now, there is no shame in getting beat soundly by No. 2 Boston College. After all, the Eagles easily dispatched just about every good team in the nation the past couple of months except for No. 1 Michigan State.

Make no mistake about it, the Eagles wanted this game very badly. They have been, hands down, the best team in Boston the past five years, but it has been Jack Parker's B.U. Terriers that have skated away from the Fleet Center with the 'Pot six years running. One way or another, that streak had to end.

But last night's contest was not simply about Harvard getting whipped by a better team, but about a surprising lack of passion and energy that should be automatic for this tournament.

"We didn't have our edge tonight," Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni said. "I didn't think we provided much resistance. We didn't play anywhere near where we could."

B.C. tied up the Crimson in knots, outmuscling Harvard on the puck, and whizzing it around the ice with terrific precision. Harvard managed just three shots on goal in the first period, and at least two were weak sharp angle shots that appeared to be shots for the sake of shooting.

Harvard's mental and physical deficiency was evident on the Eagle's first goal. The puck was high in the Crimson zone with both captain Steve Moore and sophomore winger Brett Nowak around it with a chance to clear. However, it was B.C.'s Hobey Baker candidate, Brian Gionta who made the extra effort to pounce on the puck. He took the turnover below the face-off circle and placed a shot just under thje crossbar that no goalie in the nation could stop.

The Crimson had chances to get back in the offensive flow of the game, with five power plays on the game, but it was burned for holding on to the puck too long. Gionta, again, led the charge. Playing a role usually starring Harvard sophomore Dominic Moore, he pressured the points and had at least two shorthanded odd man rushes, including a breakawy halfway through the first that senior goalie Oli Jonas had to make a great kick save to stop.