Six Division I Hockey Squads Named to ECAC Tournament

Six collegiate hockey teams can breathe a little easier this morning. The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division I selection committee yesterday named Boston University, University of New Hampshire, Brown, Clarkson, Cornell and Dartmouth to the 15th annual ECAC tournament, which begins March 9 at four campuses.

The remaining two teams and the pairings will be announced by the committee March 7, with Harvard (8-6-3), Boston College (10-9-1), Providence (11-10-2) and Rensselaer (8-10-2) in contention for the two other slots.

B.U. (18-2-0) and UNH (20-5-0) will have home ice for the opening round, as will Brown (15-5-0) if it wins one of its last three contests against Dartmouth (twice) and Yale. The fourth and final home ice seed should be decided between Clarkson (14-6-1) and Cornell (12-7-1).

Up for Grabs

The order of the fourth through eighth seeds is still up for grabs. "If we don't lose another game," Harvard goaltender Brian Petrovek said last night, "we could easily finish fifth or sixth."

The major obstacle to Crimson hopes will be Dartmouth (13-8-0), which hosts Harvard next Tuesday evening. The Big Green has its work cut out for it, with two games remaining against Brown, while Harvard plays Yale (1-16) Saturday in New Haven, and at Watson Rink March 6.

The pairings for the first round will pit the number one seed against number eight, two against seven, three versus six, and four against five. The semifinals will be in Boston Garden March 12, with the finals the night after.

If Harvard does not crack the top six, the squad will be facing either B.U. or UNH in the quarterfinals. "I think a lot of people would like to play UNH," Petro commented, "They've had their problems, and haven't won in the playoffs thepast three years."

"We just want to play one of the top four," he added guardedly. "No matter who we play, we won't be underdogs by much. It's been one of those years, you know, on any given night..."