Icemen March Past Army, 6-2

While Harvard football Coach Joe Restic was leading a mass invasion into unfriendly New Haven, Harvard men's hockey Coach Bill Cleary had to guard the fort at Cambridge against a night raid of Cadets.

Cleary's troops resorted to blitzkrieg tactics and scored six first-period goals to defeat the visitors from West Point, 6-2, Saturday night in front of 2,120 spectators at Bright Center.

Coupled with St. Lawrence's 6-5 loss to Colgate Saturday, the Crimson's victory pushed it into sole possession of first place in the ECAC with a 4-0 record.

Harvard's early success sent the Cadets running for cover, but the invaders still had a little fight in them. Lacking goal-scoring power, Army still turned Bright into a battlefield. Bodies flew. Benches cleared.

"We came to play hockey," Cleary said, "but you still want to make sure you come out in one piece."

As opposed to Friday night's victory over Princeton--in which Harvard came back from a three-goal deficit to win the game in overtime--the opening period of Saturday's contest saw the Crimson take an early advantage over the slower Cadets.

"Everyone was agitated about [Friday night]," said freshman John Weisbrod, who scored twice in the opening period. "We were real eager to play the full 60 minutes."

The barrage started five minutes into the game, when Captain Steve Armstrong took a pass from linemate Tod Hartje at the top of the right circle and unleashed a bullet that streaked past Army goalie Corey Averill.

With Harvard ahead 2-0 on a Ted Donato power-play goal, Army closed to within one as freshman Mike Houmiel got his second goal of the year. But that was the closest Army would get all night, as Harvard--led by Weisbrod's two goals--reeled off four unanswered goals in the next nine minutes.

Harvard wasn't content with its three-goal lead and marched into Army territory again with 3:34 left in the period. Weisbrod scored on a power play and then 18 seconds later, Ed Presz responded with a tally right in front of the net.

"You can't get behind by two of three goals on the road against Harvard," Army Coach Rob Riley said. "Maybe a Colgate or St. Lawrence can, but we just don't have the firepower."

Riley replaced the combat-fatigued Averill--who was shelled with 23 shots--with senior John Staples at the beginning of the second period. Staples shut out Harvard for the remainder of the contest.

The Cadets, besides scoring a power-play goal late in the third period--the first extra-man tally the Crimson has surrendered this season--couldn't muster enough artillery against seasoned freshman goalie Michael Francis.

"Before I knew it, we were up by a thousand goals," Francis said, smiling. "It really helped me."

Harvard's defensive unit--led by the duo of Scott McCormack and Jerry Pawloski--denied the Cadets good shot selection. Harvard may have had the edge on the scoreboard, but Army had some direct hits in the battle of the trenches.

"They just come out with elbows up and sticks up," Pawloski said. "Before they give it to you, you got to give back it to them."

At the close of the second period, both benches cleared as Pawloski and Army's Neil Minihane briefly mixed it up. The officials and coaches were quick in stopping the teams from battling it out any further. Minihane was called for a five-minute penalty and suspended for one game.

The final period saw both teams checking fiercely and sending bodies flying all over the rink. When C.J. Young was caught at the bottom of a pileup by the Army net, Army's Mark Hill sent Young's helmet flying off his head.

General Cleary's troops won this battle, but it's a long war for the ECAC title.

"Once we mature, I think we can be better," Cleary said. "Not that I'm complaining about being 4-0."

Harvard, 6-2 at Bright Center Army  1-0-1--2 Harvard  6-0-0--6

First Period--1, H Armstrong 1 (Hartje) 4:53; 2, H Donato 4 (Sweeney, Ciaviglia) 6:41; 1, A Noumiel 2 (Tobin, Sheridan) 8:44; 3, H Vukonich 2 (Murphy) 11:08; 4, H Weisbrod 3 (Armstrong, Sweeney) 13:02; 5, H Weisbrod 4 (unassisted) 17:16; 6, H Presz 1 (Farden) 17:34. Penalties--A, Sheridan (slashing) :59; H, Pawloski (cross-checking) :59; A, Tamburino (elbowing) 6:09; A, Traczyk (slashing) 16:08; H, Donato (roughing) 20:00.

Second Period--Penalties--A, Hill (elbowing) 9:10; H, Vukonich (hitting from behind 13:58; H, Weisbrod (roughing) 16:10; A, Hill (roughing) 16:10; A, Minihaner (kicking 5:00, game disqaulification) 20:00; H, Pawloski (holding) 20:00.

Third Period--2, A, Bono 1 (Hamacher) Penalties--H, Janfaza (cross-checking) 11:16; H, Weisbrod (slashing) 15:32; H, Young (roughing) 16:55; A, Hill (roughing) 16:55, H, Ciaviglia (cross-checking) 17:17.

Saves--H, Francis 6-8-7--24; A, Averill 5-0-0--5, Staples 0-8-12--20.

A:2, 120