Tenacious JV Skaters Tie B.C.'s Talented Freshmen

Harvard's scrappy junior varsity hockey team came from behind four times to tie a powerful Boston College freshman squad, 4-4, at McHugh Forum Saturday night.

Sloppy defensive playing cost the Crimson the win. Harvard outshot the opposition in every period, only to be turned away by B.C.'s excellent goalie, John Powers.

Boston College began the scoring barely 30 seconds after the opening faceoff, as left wing Mike Bucciero split defensemen Skip Freeman and Tom Micheletti and beat helpless goalie Paul Oldfield. Harvard tightened up and took control, mounting several good drives on the B.C. net. They were unable to beat the agile Powers, however, and the first period ended with Harvard down 1-0.

Second Period

Midway through the second period, Crimson center Bob Farrell stole the puck from the B.C. defense, and coolly flicked a shot over the sprawling goalie. Barely a minute later Boston College was out in front again, as Bucciero took the puck from a flustered Crimson defenseman and slipped it under the surprised Oldfield. Although Harvard dominated the remainder of the second period, outshooting B.C. 13-2, fine goaltending held them scoreless.

Harvard was first to score in the wide-open third period, as Eddie Gallagher slid the puck across the goal mouth to former Belmont Hill teammate George McManama for the tip-in. B.C. again took barely a minute to regain the lead, as Bucciero completed his hat trick with a 20-foot bullet, high and to the right of Oldfield.

At the 6:15 mark, Crimson captain Tom Mechem tied it at 3-3 with a well-placed shot that squeezed between Powers and the right post.

B.C. went ahead for the fourth time when an unguarded wing took a pass from the corner and hit the right side of the net from fifteen feet out.

Score Tied Up

Harvard tied the score for the final time at 9:35, when Jim Baldassari picked up a rebound and slapped it by the floundering B.C. goaltender, tying the score at 4-4.

The inexperienced B.C. freshmen tried frantically to score. The Crimson remained calm, but were unable to get past the aggressively forechecking opposition.

After a scoreless five-minute sudden-death overtime, the game was declared a tie.