Armed Affair

Last night, the Army did what it's trained to do: it fought.

The enemy was the Harvard men's hockey team--Crimson forward Allen Bourbeau in particular--and with four minutes left in an already rough second period, the Cadets turned from hard checking to armed combat, throwing punches and using their sticks.

Mark My Words

In this small battle behind the Cadet net, Army emerged victorious. Bourbeau wound up with a bloodstained jersey and later admitted that he and C.J. Young, Harvard's other participant in the fight, were " a little outmanned."

But in winning the battle, Army lost the war. The result of the brawl was penalties for three players--two minors for Bourbeau, three minors for Cadet right wing and leading-scorer Matt Wilson and a five-minute major for Army left wing Rob Brenner, who had decked Bourbeau under the chain with his stick.

This left the Crimson with a four-on-three advantage for five minutes. In that span, the Crimson broke open a 4-4 game with three goals and finished off the Cadets, 7-5, before 2850 spectators at Bright Center.

"They have more talent, "Cadet Captain Kevin Keenan said, "but we have hard workers and hard hitters. That's what we had to do come out and play a physical game."

"We intended to be rough--that's the way we play," Army Coach Rob Riley said.

In order to beat Harvard, Army knew it had to contain Harvard forwards Lane MacDonald, Bourbeau and Tim Barakett. And--to a degree--the Cadets accomplished their mission. Before the brawl, Bourbeau and MacDonald were held to goal apiece, and Keenan matched those tallies with two goals of his own.

What Army didn't want to do was allow Harvard's power play unit to get on the ice. After the brawl, of course,that's precisely what happened. MacDonald,Barakett and defensemen Randy Taylor and MarkBenning hopped onto the ice to face there forlornArmy penalty killers. And after Bourbeau's penaltyexpired, he too leapt on the ice to join theoffensive barrage.

"We played our hearts out," Riley said. "Evenup, we beat them."

Taylor, Barakett and MacDonald each tossed in agoal in a span of three minutes, and suddenly theArmy found itself in a fox hole from which therewas no escape.

"We had to stay out of the box," Keenan said."We didn't do it--that was the game right there."

Harvard--which hadn't seen action since a 5-4loss to Northeastern on Monday--was prepared for arough contest. From the opening face-off, the gamewas marked by tight checking and hard hitting.After the end of the first period, it was obviousit would be a brutish game.

"We talked about it before we started thesecond period," Harvard Coach Bill Cleary said."We knew they were going to play a physical gameagainst us. I don't mind it being rough but youhave to play it the right way."

What the team--seeking to break a two-gamelosing streak--didn't expect was a close game.After all, the Crimson had bounced the Cadets,6-3, in West Point in late November and werelooking for even better results at Bright.

The Crimson certainly didn't expect a 4-4 gamewith four minutes left in the second period. Atthat juncture, Young took a pass at midice andskated down the right side. Before he reached theCadet net, he was met by Wilson and Brennan.Punches were thrown. Bourbeau joined theburgeoning brawl, and afterward the game took on adifferent aura--one that was favorable to theCrimson.

Scramble

"It was just a scramble in front of the net,"Bourbeau said. "A couple of guys were hittingC.J., beating on him, so I just tried to step inand help out. It didn't work out too good."

"But we ended up getting a lot of penalties onthat," Bourbeau added, "and that was a big turningpoint."

The Crimson victory solidified its hold on firstplace in the ECAC. With the loss, Army remained inninth place in the league. Eight teams make theECAC playoffs.

For Harvard the cost of the little skirmish wasminimal--a slightly higher laundry bill because ofBourbeau's jersey. For Army--a team struggling toearn respectability in the ECAC after joining theleague this year--the fight may have cost it thegame. And maybe a playoff spot