Trudeau crumpled into the St. Lawrence bench in agony after the collision, and was carried into the locker room soon after. It will be a rough way for Trudeau to end her superb career if she cannot return for the NCAA tournament. She is the Saints' all-time leading goal-scorer with 77 tallies.

"I've known Caroline for a very long time, and she's had a history of knee problems from way back in the day, so it's unfortunate," Shewchuk said. "You don't like to see that happen to anybody on the ice. She's an intense, hard-working player, and it's just a shame."

Trudeau's injury further disrupted a St. Lawrence team that was already writhing from a 1-0 deficit at the time. Assistant captain Nicole Kirnan, usually a fourth-line player, took Trudeau's place on the top line.

Trudeau was not the only player the Saints lost on the day. Second-line center Jessica Wilson went down with a concussion midway through the second period.

"Injuries like that are part of the game, but psychologically they throw your mind off," said St. Lawrence Coach Paul Flanagan. "The players who stepped in did a very good job. We moved on."

Sophomore linemates Shannon Smith and Amanda Sargaent were impressive in Trudeau's absence. They connected on the right side of the crease for the lone Saints' goal, but it wasn't nearly enough to match Harvard's firepower.

Star-Struck in Defeat

In each of his two seasons as coach of St. Lawrence, Flanagan has watched Harvard put his season to an end. Despite spliting with Harvard during the regular season each year, his team failed to keep it close in last year's 7-3 ECAC quarterfinal defeat and Saturday's 7-1 ECAC semfinal thrashing.