Icemen Finally Break Big Red's Home Ice Hex

All streaks must come to an end sometime. UCLA couldn't go on forever winning basketball games, Harvard had to lose a squash match sooner or later and Cornell's hockey team just could not keep up its home-ice hex over Harvard for more than a decade.

After nine long years of returning from Lynah Rink in icy Ithaca with little more than frostbite, the Crimson icemen finally picked up a win at Cornell Saturday night, a 7-4 thumping, to bring back to Cambridge.

Harvard is the first Ivy team in ages that has won in Ithaca. And so another time-honored streak threatens to go the way of the Walton game--the Big Red's nine-year domination of the Ivy League.

The Crimson squad now stands atop the league with a 7-2 record, while Cornell is mired in third with a 5-4 slate.

Dartmouth is second at 5-3, and it looks as though the Ivy crown will be decided in Hanover February 27, between the Big Green and the Crimson. That is, providing Dartmouth snaps a streak of its own, nine losses in a row, before the Ivy showdown.

Harvard also moved itself into a tie for second place in ECAC's crazy Division One hockey race with the recently dethroned Beanpot champions from Boston University. Both squads are 12-5-0 behind New Hampshire, which is 14-3-0. Cornell and Providence (and you thought the Friars could only play basketball) are tied for third at 9-6-1.

Six-Game Streak

So after a heartbreaking first half of the season where Harvard lost five games by five goals, Billy Cleary's Comeback Kids have put it together for six straight since the January 16 overtime loss to the Big Red in Watson Rink.

Coming From Behind

Coming from behind seems to be the trademark of this year's hockey squad. "I don't know why, but the kids seem to play much better when they're behind," Cleary said yesterday. "They don't lose their poise or cool."

In the unfriendly surroundings of Lynah Rink, the Crimson fell behind 2-0 before even three minutes had elapsed in the game. "You go up in the North country and the crowd is against you," Cleary said yesterday. "It's tough to win. And that place [Lynah Rink] is noisy, especially when you're behind by two after only a couple of minutes."

Above the Roar

But Harvard managed to get over the roar of the Big Red crowd, and managed to keep Cornell off the scoreboard until 4:17 of the third period. In the meantime the Crimson struck for five goals and a comfortable lead that was not relinquished.

Jim Thomas closed the first period gap to one with a power play tally at 17:16, setting the stage for the comeback. The second stanza was all Harvard, as the squad outshot Cornell, 13-7. Three of those shots scored.

Kevin Burke, who couldn't seem to buy a goal the last time around against Cornell, tied it up at 3:35 assisted by linemates Paul Haley and Phelps Swift. Bob Goodenow sent Harvard ahead a minute later and Danny Bolduc made it 4-2 at 10:17.

The Big Red put the heat on in the final stanza, forcing Jim Murray to save 19. But only two shots got by the sophomore netminder, and the Crimson offense took care of the rest as Jim McMahon, Leigh Hogan and Bolduc each beat Brian Rainey, who replaced Steve Kelleher in the second period.