Crimson Six Face Off Against Vermont

Is the post-exam hockey slump really a tradition here at Harvard? We'll find out tonight as the Crimson attempts to come back from an 8-3 drubbing at the hands of B.U. and defeat a tough University of Vermont squad at 7:30 in Burlington.

It won't be easy sledding for Harvard however. The Catamounts will be psyched for an upset, and Gutterson Rink ranks right up there with Dartmouth's Davis Rink as "snake pits" for the visiting teams.

A capacity crowd will be on hand to witness Harvard's first visit to Vermont and the second meeting between the two teams. Vermont won the only other game the two have played, 3-2, in 1970-71 at Watson Rink.

In addition, the game will be a clash between the ECAC Division I and Division II leaders. Vermont stands atop Division II with a 9-0-0 record, 14-5 overall. Harvard is now 7-2 in Division I and 10-2 overall.

The Catamounts feature a fairly balanced attack, but get most of their scoring punch from the top two of four lines. The first line has accounted for 96 points, the second line, 66.

First liner Pat Wright is the team's top point-getter, racking up 16 goals and 21 assists. He is followed by linemate Ted Castle with 13 goals and 20 assists. Fred Hunt, also on the first line, is fourth in scoring with 26 total points.

The second line of Tim O'Connell, Roger Mallette and Bill Koch rank third, sixth and seventh in team scoring, while the third line of Willie MacKinnon, Chris Miller and Chris Hurley account for only 35 points on the season.

Vermont's defense pairings will be Brad Cooke with Ted Child and John Murphy with Ken Yeates. These top two pairings have contributed 9 goals and 34 assists to Vermont's campaign this season.

Steve Eckerson will be guarding the Catamount nets tonight. In 16 games this season, Eckerson has allowed 50 goals and made 430 saves for a 2.78 goals average.

Harvard left yesterday afternoon for their long bus ride into the frozen northland allowing them to get in a practice this afternoon on enemy ice. Despite the loss to B.U., Cleary will probably go with the same lineup he used Monday night.

Last year, Harvard dropped its first four games out of exam break, two of the losses coming at the hands of such weak teams as Dartmouth and Penn. Vermont is certainly capable of knocking off the Crimson tonight to keep that tradition alive. Hopefully, Harvard has learned a lesson.