Of War Hoops and Puckstoppers

"Two, four, six--we want more!" is how Harvard hockey fans might describe the Crimson's current playoff situation.

Harvard has skated through its first six playoff games with unexpected ease--outscoring the opposition 31-9--and now, for the third time in five years, the Crimson has landed a berth in the NCAA Final Four. With two more victories, the NCAA Championship trophy will be making its home in Cambridge for the first time ever.

The Crimson has reached the Final Four nine times. But only in its two most recent stints as a member of that illustrious quartet has Harvard made it past the semifinals. Both of those contests ended in defeats for the Crimson--to Wisconsin in 1983 and Michigan State in 1986.

Six times in the NCAA's 39-year history, the tournament's runner-up has gone on to win it all the following year. The 1983 Badgers most recently pulled the trick with a 6-2 victory over Harvard.

With the Spartans also in the semifinals, some fans are hoping for a rematch of last year's Harvard-MSU thriller in Providence. Minnesota and Michigan Tech are the only two teams which have faced each other in consecutive national finals--from 1974-76. The Golden Gophers sandwiched national championships around Tech's 1975 victory.

War Hoops: Those battle cries from the West are coming from the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, the Crimson's Thursday night opponent. The Sioux, who along with Harvard and Boston College have been ranked number one in the country for the bulk of the year, boast several excellent players.

Sophomore Hobey Baker candidate Tony Hrkac set the national record for points scored in a season when he recorded his 111th last weekend. First-line mate Bob Joyce notched his team-record 50th goal on the season.

The Crimson and Sioux last met in 1973 at a tournament in St. Louis, where they tied 2-2. Interestingly, while Harvard and UND have now reached the pinnacle of college hockey, the other two teams in that tourney, St. Louis and Notre Dame, have since dropped their programs.

Overall, North Dakota holds a 4-1-1 advantage. They've met once in NCAA play--in the 1958 semis--and the Sioux dominated, 9-1. The captain of that '58 Crimson team was Bob Cleary--younger brother of current Harvard Coach Bill Cleary.

If the past truly does portend the future, Harvard--the lone Eastern squad in Detroit--has to be the decided underdog. Western teams have captured 31 of the 39 NCAA hockey championships.

Puckstopper to the Stars: Dickie McEvoy's performance last weekend was the best-ever by a goalie in an NCAA two-game series. The Sioux gave up only two goals to Clarkson in 1982, but no team had allowed just one tally before.

McEvoy's shutout Saturday was the first in NCAA quarterfinal history, and eighth overall in 194 NCAA tournament games.

Other notable performers over the weekend included Andy Janfaza, Don Sweeney and C.J. Young.

Janfaza notched his fourth career goal against a Western team (and 11th overall), and Sweeney's seventh goal of the year was the most by a Crimson defenseman since Mark Fusco's 13 in 1982-'83. Sweeney, who received ECAC Honorable Mention recognition this season, is the Crimson's leading candidate for most improved player of the year. And Young, a freshman, has now scored half of his career goals in the playoffs.

What a Weekend: The highlight of Friday's post-game press conference came when a reporter unfamiliar with the Crimson asked Lane MacDonald, "Is this the first two-goal game you've had this season?"

MacDonald, who actually notched only one goal on the night, straight-faced his answer: "I think I've had 11 or 12."

Toward the end of Saturday's game, some Harvard fans advised Falcon Coach Jerry York that since his players obviously were not going to stage, a miraculous comeback, he should "play, the chicken!"

WHRB Station Manager John Toohey was pressed into P.A. duty at Saturday's game because the regular announcer, Seth Resnikoff, had laryngitis.