Final 'Pot Shot Dooms Crimson, 5-4

Coming into Monday's opening round of the 35th Annual Beanpot Tournament, the Harvard hockey team seemed ready to feast on its underdog opponent.

Northeastern (6-16-3 before the game) was generally regarded as the worst of the four Tournament teams. The Crimson (15-1, ranked second in the country) was viewed as one of the best.

What's more, because of its three-week lay-off for exams, Harvard was well-rested and injury-free. And the seniors on the team, who for the last three years had spent the second Monday in February playing in front of yawning audiences in the Tournament's consolation game, were eager--almost desperate--to get to the final. They had yet to play before a full and maddening Boston Garden crowd.

Besides, how long could the Crimson's Beanpot bad luck--which had kept it out of the last five Tournament finals--continue?

But the Huskies did not prove to be the scrumptous 'Pot luck supper that many thought they would, as N.U. defenseman Brian Dowd's goal with six minutes gone in overtime lifted the Huskies past the Crimson, 5-4, before 14,451 spectators Monday.

In the Tournament's nightcap, Boston University--also an underdog--rolled over Boston College, 6-3, to gain the other final berth. The Terriers had lost all four of their regular-season games against B.C. this year.

Northeastern and B.U. will play in the Beanpot championship game next Monday at 8 p.m. in the Garden. Harvard and B.C. will face off in the consolation game, which begins at 5:30 p.m.

Harvard has not nudged its way into the Beanpot final since goalie Wade Lau and his teammates snatched the 'Pot in 1981.

"After these four years, I know now how much I want to win it," Harvard Captain Peter Chiarelli said after Monday's loss.

Northeastern, on the other hand, has won the Beanpot three of the last six years.

Unlike the Harvard seniors--who have never tasted the glory of a championship game, yet alone a title--current Northeastern seniors have won the 'Pot twice (in 1984 and '85). After the game, the Huskie locker room resounded with chants of "One more" and "Two ain't good enough."

Huskie Coach Fern Flammen prepared his players for this year's opening round by showing them a video of Northeastern's 5-4 overtime victory over Boston College in the 1980 Beanpot final.

In that year, Northeastern--having won only a handful of games--overcame its underdog status and took home the 'Pot.

"There aren't any favorites in this game," Flammen said.

Jerry Pawloski, who last year was noted for his hard-hitting defense, skated on the Crimson's second line Monday in favor of Ed Krayer, who has elected to take the upcoming semester off. Pawloski has been sidelined the entire season with a knee injury.

Pawloski played admirably and was a help to the squad. Not so helpful was the small Garden ice, which allowed Northeastern's slower defensemen to bottle-up the highflying Crimson forwards for much of the game.

"This is not our favorite place," Harvard Coach Bill Cleary said. "We'd like a bigger surface. But we can't use that as an excuse. If I had the answer [to Harvard's Beanpot woes], I'd be a millionaire."

Northeastern, which darted to leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 4-2 against Harvard, nearly ran out of gas in the last stages of the game. With a minute left in the contest, Huskie spectators were on their feet, chanting and cheering. The sounds of "Sieve, sieve" which the Harvard band howled at N.U. goalie Bruce Racine seemed hollow.

But then something almost magical happened.

With 46 second left in the game, Harvard goalie Dickie McEvoy was pulled for sixth-skater C.J. Young. Just as Young leapt onto the ice, Lane MacDonald maneuvered to the left of Racine and flipped a shot into the Huskie net to cut the N.U. lead to one.

The Northeastern celebration grew silent as Racine was comforted by his defensemen.

With 33 seconds left, the Crimson forced a face-off in the Northeastern end. Allen Bourbeau controlled the face-off and kicked the puck back to defenseman Mark Benning.

Benning wound up and shot. The puck rattled through the Northeastern defense and wound up on the stick of Crimson wing Tim Barakett, who punched a shot past Racine and set the Garden on fire.

Had the Crimson pulled off a victory in the waning seconds--which it nearly did when Barakett slapped a shot that flew just right of the Huskie net--or captured the game in overtime, this last minute effort would have been remembered as one of the greatest Crimson comebacks ever.

But Dowd's shot in front of the Harvard net with six minutes gone in overtime slipped past goalie Dickie McEvoy and the Huskies were on their way to the final for the fifth time in seven years.