Skaters Come Out of Reading Period Sleep, Send Bruins Back In, 4-3, On Late Garrity Goal

Morris E. Mentum does not play for the Harvard hockey team; he doesn't even attend school in Cambridge. But Saturday afternoon he, like Bob Gamere, a Teleseven camera crew and a packed crowd obviously in search of some excitement and already bored stiff by reading period, was in Watson Rink as the Crimson skaters made off with a big one, 4-3, against a good but not great Brown outfit.

This was the ECAC game of the week, the first one televised this season, which explained the presence of Gamere and the cameras. As for the appearance of Morris (better known to his friends as Mo), he was there when Harvard needed him, specifically in the final five minutes of the game when two Bruin penalties allowed the Crimson to dominate and resulted in Jon Garrity's game-winning goal at 18:04.

It was a game that Harvard deserved to win. The Crimson outplayed the visitors for the most part as the defense, with Jon Schuster and Jackie Hughes leading the way, created roadblocks in front of Brian Petrovek (16 saves) that will surely rival those on the Southeastern Expressway this morning.

It was also a game that served a variety of functions, say four, as it a) proved ample revenge for a December loss in Providence to this same Brown team, b) gave the Crimson a push forward in the Ivy standings, c)kept everybody in good spirits for three tough ECAC contests on enemy ice this week and d) got a lot of people out of the library for at least three hours.

Mentum Redux

But back to Mentum, who takes in more sporting events each year than Harvard does endowment money. On Saturday, he didn't have a ticket and as a result was forced to roam the rink in search of an empty seat before finally settling down. It showed.

At first, Mentum lodged himself in the tuba section of the Brown band, which soon made a lot of noise when Bill Gilligan gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead before most of the crowd had finished its manicotti lunch (surprisingly, that wasn't the worst meal of the weekend, as it ranked second to last night's meat loaf and/or sardine combination).

As the opening period progressed, however, Brown did little else, managing just two more shots on Petro, the Crimson assumed control and Mentum assumed a different seat. On the Harvard side of the ice.

At 16:43, the change paid off, as leading scorer Bill Hozack, the recipient of great passes from Hughes and Schuster, broke in alone on the power play and Bruin goalie Mike Laycock. A fake here, a deke there and it was 1-1 after one.

Mentum moved to Section 19 for the entire middle frame, joining Bill Ginsberg and Eric Haber in the process.

Harvard continued to dominate, proving that it had indeed learned something in Wisconsin, and when George Hughes knocked his own rebound past Laycock from what seemed an impossible angle, the Crimson had the lead at 2:45.

But not for more than a period, as Gilligan set up Skip Stovern for a power-play goal at 1:22 of the final frame and Channel 7 was hardly complaining that its initial broadcast was an old-fashioned thriller. The lone complaint came from a Radcliffe sophomore who had to leave her first college hockey game after two periods for a guitar rehearsal and missed a great 20 minutes of action as a result.

Mentum was passing in back of the Brown bench eating a between-periods hot dog when Stovern lit the red light, but he soon returned to Section 19 and seven minutes later Harvard joyously raised its sticks in appreciation of Mentum's decision.

The occasion was Hughes's second tally for a 3-2 advantage, this one coming on assists from Kevin O'Donoghue and Mike Clasby, who was substituting for an injured Gene Purdy. Hughes's shot from in close was partially deflected by Laycock, but the elusive little puck hopped over the latter's shoulder and landed behind the goal stripe.

An aroused crowd was quickly subdued, however, when Mentum took a quick jaunt to the men's room and Brown's Mark Charest single-handed tied things with a goal which was as unexpected to the partisan Crimson followers as being served pigeon at the House of China.

With the Bruins applying the pressure in Harvard's end, the Crimson defense got careless for one of the few times and forgot to clear the puck in front of Petrovek. Charest then took control and squared things at three all.

So now there were ten minutes left and this was a hockey game. Mentum returned to his accustomed location, everyone else held his/her collective breath and then five minutes down the blue line the Crimson got a break.

First one Bruin was sent to the penalty box, and while Harvard didn't capitalize this time around, it did a minute later. On Brown's second successive no-no, Harvard's elder (George) Hughes gave the puck to Hozack, positioned behind the Brown net to Laycock's left.

As the goalie concentrated on Hozack, the senior center sent the disc across the goal mouth to Garrity, a freshman, who somehow controlled it on the other side of the crease and tipped it past a not-yet-turned-around Laycock.

For the Crimson, an important triumph in an excellent game, for Mentum, just another day's work. Harvard now gets set for tomorrow night's contest at Boston College, when Mentum will again be in attendance. Where old Mo sits, however has not yet been determined.

32-14 PATRIOTS WOULD BE CHAMPSCrimsonSandy O. SteingardDOUG THOMSON [18] and JOHN COCHRANE [20] get company as they pursue a loose puck in the Brown end, where most of the afternoon's action took place. A John Garrity goal with 1:56 remaining gave the Crimson a well deserved 4-3 triumph and revenge for a December loss in Providence.