Cornell Crushes Crimson, 4-3

Everyone was disappointed, but no one was really surprised as the Big Red of Cornell nobbled away at a 3-0 deficit and all but killed Harvard's ECAC playoff hopes, by burning the Crimson 4-3 in overtime last night at Watson Rink.

Cornell's junior co-captain and all-time leading scorer, Lance Nethery, drilled a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Harvard goalie John Hynes with only 18 seconds left in sudden-victory overtime to win the game.

Cornell hit pay dirt on a frantic three on two break. Cornell winger Rick Box streaked towards the Harvard goal forcing the Crimson defense deep into their own zone. Box dropped the puck to freshman Roy Kerling who in turn flipped the puck back to Nethery. Nethery took aim and picked the corner.

The loss drops Harvard's record to 11-11 overall, 9-10 in the ECAC, and 4-5 in the Ivy League.

Cornell extended its winning streak to 13 games and more than likely assured itself of home ice in the ECAC playoffs. The Big Red maintain a convincing hold on second place with a 14-4-1 ledger in the ECAC. Cornell also tightened its grip on the Ivy League championship last night by upping its Ivy record to 8-2-0.

The contest started on an auspicious note as Cornell won the pre-game toss of the puck and chose to defend the east end of Watson rink. The Big Red, thus avoided the taunts of Harvard's vocal, intimidating fans situated in section 18 and 19. Cornell goalie Steve Napier was bombarded in the second period with two hefty fish, and the enemy netminder let by two Crimson goals. While performing amidst the peace of the east end, during the first, third and overtime periods, Napier gave up only one tally.

At the end of two periods Harvard owned a 3-0 lead over the Big Red which thumped the Crimson in Ithaca on February 21, 6-3. The key to the Crimson advantage at the end of two was the outstanding performance by Harvard netminder Hynes. The sophomore from Chatham repelled 45 Cornell shots in the contest, and for two periods shutdown the Big Red, which had averaged eight goals a game in its previous 12 games.

Harvard's Tom Murray put the Crimson ahead 1-0 at 17:38 of the first period lifting a shot over the stacked pads of Cornell goalie Steve Napier. Jon Garrity and Captain Bryan Cook assisted on the score.

George Hughes scored a power play goal, his 15th tally of the season to give Harvard a 2-0 advantage. John Cochrane and Bob McDonald assisted Hughes. Then, Murray Dea, playing his best game of the season, put the finishing touch on a beautiful give- and-go with Jim Trainor making the score 3-0 Harvard.

For the first eight minutes of the third period the two teams played a wide open, offensive brand of hockey. The Crimson continued to frustrate Cornell with its tight checking. Then Cornell junior John Stornik lit the Big Red fuse.

At 8:02 Stornik caught goalie Hynes out of the cage and smacked the puck into the net. The Cornell fans, who seemed to outnumber the Harvard contingent, cheered with more frantic zeal and went wild. They had seen it before, the explosive Cornell offense, and the Cornell crowd tasted victory.

Bang. At 10:21 Kerling capitalized on a two on one break with Nethery skating past defenseman Jack Hughes and then beating Hynes with the shot. Bang. At 13:55 Cornell's George Corneil slipped a rebound past Hynes and it was all tied up. The Cornell fans went absolutely berserk.

Then, after nine minutes and 42 seconds of exhausting, furious overtime action, Cornell's Nethery scored his 22nd goal and 71st point of the season to end one of the most thrilling hockey games in recent Harvard history.