Goalies Crucial as Icemen Face Bruins in Showdown Tonight

The two smallest--and conceivably best goalies in the East will be at opposite ends of Watson Rink tonight when Harvard faces Brown in what could be a showdown for the Ivy League hockey championship.

Bruin netminder Don McGinnis, who was largely responsible for his team's upset of Cornell last Saturday, is actually an inch shorter than Crimson goalie Bill Diercks. Diercks, who has not escaped the label "diminutive" since he first slid his 5-6 frame into a Harvard cage, was spectacular in the Crimson's knockoff of B.U.

McGinnis, a quick-reacting Toronto native, started making noise as a freshman last year when he made a fantastic 54 saves to stop a strong B.C. team, 5-1. He quieted down a week later, however, as the Harvard freshmen beat the Bruin Cubs, 12-4, with Ron Mark tallying five times.

Brown started this season meekly enough, despite Coach Jim Fullerton's billing of it as the deepest team in his 13 years at Providence. The Bears had to come from behind to gain a 5-5 tie with Northeastern, a team Harvard beat 9-0. McGinnis then shut out weak Providence, 9-0.

Brown opened Boston College's season at McHugh Forum and fell by one goal, as Harvard did three days later.

Then Brown shocked the hockey world by handing Cornell its second loss in two years, 6-3. McGinnis was called on to make 38 saves while Cornell junior Ken Dryden stopped only 23 in his first American setback.

Leading the Brown attack with two goals was senior Wayne Small, a small, speedy center who was New England's top forward and the East's third-leading scorer last year. Small got two goals in Brown's 9-1 shellacking of Harvard at Providence last winter, and junior Bob Devaney, who is still on Small's line, scored three.

Dennis Macks, who rounded out that line's scoring with a hat trick of his own, has graduated at long last. Senior Phil Moreland and junior Bob Walsh, who both scored against Cornell, have been working with Small and Devaney.

The line that is being billed as one New England's best, however, is composed of seniors Bill Clarke, Bill McSween, and Jack Norwell. The third line is all sophomores: Rick McLaughlin, Frank Sacheli, and Bob Fleming, the freshmen's high scorer last year.

Co-captain Bob Rockwood and Tom Coakley have been around for three years and are solid, competent defensemen. Pairing off with the seniors are Curt Bennett, a sophomore billed as the successor to two-time All-American Bob Gaudreau, and junior Steve Wormith, Brown's All-Ivy honorable mention fullback. Bob Wormith and Bennett tallied in the Cornell game.

Backing up McGinnis in the nets is junior Mark Burns, who lost his first varsity start, 3-1, to Harvard last December. Burns turned in Brown's second shutout of Providence, 5-0, last Wednesday.

The Harvard sextet, which beat Princeton 5-3 in its Ivy opener Wednesday, will be battling for the early League lead.

Watson Rink is sold out, but the action can be heard over WHRB.

The freshmen play Brown at 4 p.m. in the only other sports action in Cambridge today.