Big Green Slaps Icemen, 6-5; OT Loss Dims Playoff Hopes

HANOVER, N.H.--Ross Brownridge's third goal of the game and 28th of the season, 35 seconds into overtime, lifted the Dartmouth hockey team to a 6-5 win over Harvard at Thomson Arena here last night.

The victory gave the Big Green their second consecutive Ivy Championship and all but eliminated the Crimson from the ECAC play-off race. Harvard's ECAC record dropped to 6-10-2, while Dartmouth now stands at 15-5-1.

Four times the icemen forged ahead, but four times Dartmouth came right back, the last coming when Brownridge poked home a rebound with 6:20 left in regulation to even the score at 5-5.

Then, less than a minute into the sudden-death session, the senior center from Brampton, Ont., flipped a shot at Harvard goalie Wade Lau from the blue line, 60 feet away. the puck skipped past the netminder to end the contest and Harvard hopes of post-season play.

Lau, incensed at his mistake, hurled his stick to center ice and collapsed to the ice holding his head in his hands.

But aside from the game-winner, the Harvard netminder played perhaps his finest game of the season, stopping 35 shots. Depleted by Scott Sangster's leg injury and Bobby Fowkes' ineligibility, Harvard's undermanned defense--Mark Fusco, Graham Carter and Mitch Olsen--faced a difficult assignment against the high-powered Dartmouth attack.

Twice in the third period, the Crimson scored go-ahead goals. A Carter wristshot past Dartmouth goalie Bob Oaudet broke a 3-3 tie after only 12 seconds, but Big Green winger Shaun Teevens retaliated just 25 seconds later.

At 16:43 of the second period, Harvard's Jim Turner had set the stage for the dramatic final 21 minutes when he tipped in a set-up from Greg Olson to cap a textbook 2-on-1 break and tie the game at 3-3.

The icemen had entered the second period with a 2-1 lead but two defensemen--Scott Powers (high sticking) and Mitch Olsen (10-minute misconduct)--in the penalty box. The minor proved costly moments later when Rick Wilson evened the score just as the penalty expired.

And the misconduct--which further depleted the Crimson's low stock of defensemen--came back to haunt Harvard as well. A beleaguered Doug Horton gave the puck away behind his own net and Brownridge caught Lau guarding the wrong post, tucking home the tally at 8:42 to give Dartmouth a 3-2 lead.

Constant pressure in the Dartmouth end resulted in the game's first tally, when Britz took Rob Burns's pass and caught the upper right hand corner 11:17 after the opening face-off.

Dartmouth's Chip Bettencourt slammed in a rebound soon afterwards, but Harvard went back in front a minute before the period ended. The revitalized Crimson power-play notched its fifth goal in three games on a Mike Watson ice-hugger.