Listless Iceman Salvage 2-2 Tie With Bruins...But Iceman Full short at Brown

For two periods last night, the Harvard women's ice hockey team stayed close. With just over a minute left in the game, the Crimson was still close. But at the end, it wasn't enough, as Brown pinned a last-minute 3-2 defeat on the icewomen.

Tied 0-0 after two and 2-2 with just two minutes to go, the Crimson could not stop Margie Cochran, whose goal with 1:22 left proved the difference.

The disappointing loss drops the Harvard record to 3-4 (1-0 in the lvies) while Brown upped its mark to 3-3 (1-0 in the Ivies). The third consecutive loss leaves the icewomen in the Ivy basement and deals a serious blow to their title aspirations.

"We came out flat and played that way for two periods," Harvard Assistant Coach Bill MacDonald said afterwards. "We didn't start to pull it out until we were behind and then the time just ran out on us."

The Crimson, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit, failed to generate any offense early in the game, but used its passing attack to spark its comeback attempt.

"We didn't have that many shots the first two periods," MacDonald said, "but once we started moving the puck, things started to click."

But it wasn't until the 14:05 mark of the third that Harvard found its way onto the scoreboard Captain Alex Lightfoot took the puck from deep in Harvard territory, skated down the ice and fed it to Kathy Carroll, who immediately smacked into the Bruin twines. That goal, Harvard's first in five periods of action, closed the score to 2-1.

"It was such a beautiful goal," MacDonald said. "It seems that all we get are beautiful goals and never any junk, like everyone else."

The icewomen tied the score on another "beautiful" goal with three minutes remaining. Megan Berthold took the Brown defense wide and then slipped the puck to Diane Hurley, who rocketed it into the upper part of the Bruin net.

But Cockran spoiled all Crimson hopes when she beat the Harvard defense for the game-winner just a minute-and-a-half later.

"We had fought back so hard and then to have that happen was just unbelievable," MacDonald said. "We are certainly capable of playing better than we did, and hopefully with a little rest and some positive thinking we'll be all right," he added, pointing out that the icewomen still have the bulk of their season to go

MacDonald did say, though, that several line changes may be upcoming. "We might change things around to generate some shots," he said. "They don't seem to be that aggressive the way they are now."

THE NOTEBOOK The icewomen will make their next regular season appearance Jan. 11 against the same Brown squad...UNH will roll into town in the following day for one of the Crimson's biggest matches of the year. Megan Berthold and Liz Ward each played hurt in the last night's game and should profit from the vacation. MacDonald said.

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With the first seven games down, the icewomen will now get a chance to hang up their skates, but only for a week.

The Crimson will move from the indoor ice to the slopes of Aspen, beginning next Sunday, as it travels west for a week of exhibitions and skiing.

As part of its first Christmas trip, the squad will take on the Aspen Women All-Stars in a benefit for Aspen Youth Hockey and has tentative matches scheduled with the Vail Bob Cats and the Denver Tiger Cats Coach John Dooley has also ordered his troops to bring along their skiis "just in case there's some snow."

A Way of Life

"But the main purpose of this trip is to make hockey a total experience." Dooley points out. "We want the girls to realize that hockey is more than just a game."

Invited by Dick Marr, Dooley's partner in a hockey school, the women will "rough it" at the Aspen Country Day School. "We'll be living at the school for a week," Dooley says, "so it will definitely give the girls an opportunity to learn about and appreciate each other a litte better."

Dooley also expects the trip to help with recruiting. "It'll give us some national exposure that we haven't gotton," says Dooley, who hopes to expand on this trip with a European journey in the near future.

"The important thing about this is that the girls will always remember this." Assistant Coach Bill MacDonald says. "In five years they won't remember a 5-1 win or a 4-2 loss, but they'll remember this trip."