Eagles Soar Past Icemen, 6-2

After hitting a first period peak, the Harvard hockey roller coaster swerved, dipped, plunged and finally lurched to a halt as the erratic icemen dropped a 6-2 decision to Boston College at the Bright Center last night.

As usual, the icemen provided the near-capacity crowd with at least half an hour of spirited, aggressive hockey. But the Eagles, (5-1-1 ECAC) considered by many to be the East's number one team, converted several Crimson miscues into goals and turned a tight, even contest into a rout.

The icemen, now 4-5-1 in the ECAC, opened play the way they left off Saturday in their 9-5 thrashing of Brown. Constant pressure on the Eagle net resulted in a Mark Fusco bullet from the left side which Greg Olson tipped in for the initial goal at 1:38 of the first period. That the Eagles soon knotted the contest on a Mike Ewanowski power play goal seemed unimportant--the Crimson, playing perhaps its best hockey of the year, continued to control play.

At 14:08. B.C.'s George Amidon saved a goal with a trip of Greg Olson in the slot. Moments later, the Crimson power play put the icemen back on top when a Mark Fusco shot rebounded to Mike Watson, who dutifully slammed it home.

But the Eagles, although outplayed by a wide margin, came right back. At 18:44, Mark Switaj erased the Crimson lead on a breakaway, and for all their domination, the icemen entered the locker room ensnared in a 2-2 tie.

When they returned after the first intermission, they had left their scoring touch behind. Despite numerous opportunities, the Crimson offense could not capitalize and when B.C.'s Bill O'Dwyer and Lee Blossom notched quick goals, it began to falter.

The icemen stopped playing their hard-checking game and resorted to a loose, dump-and-run offense.

The Eagles, routinely beaten to the puck in the first period, reversed the situation by the end of the second and took complete control.

Trailing 4-2 as the third period opened, the Crimson looked for a goal to turn things around.

Instead, O'Dwyer notched his second as Harvard goalie Wade Lau and Fusco collided to the right of the net.

"That was my fault--a lack of concentration," Lau said after the game. "I didn't get back and he beat me."

O'Dwyer's goal took the wind out of the Crimson sails. Trailing 5-2, the icemen played a listless third period, and Gary Sampson sealed the win for the Eagles with a giveaway goal at 16:56.

"I don't think we played that bad a hockey game," Crimson coach Bill Clearly said after the game. "We played two strong periods, but that fifth goal really hurt. We needed a quick one there, and they got one instead."

THE NOTEBOOK: The Crimson cutshot the the Eagles, 26-22, but was unable to turn its early domination into goals....Fusco's two assists tie him with Turner for the team scoring lead with fifteen points. Greg Olson paces the squad with nine goals....Next on the schedule for the icemen are two tough road games. They travel to Princeton this Saturday, and return from a three-week exam break with a contest at Maine, February 2....A notable exception to the team's lackluster third period play was Scott Sangster, who threw his weight around several times in the game's late moments.