More News From Number One

In addition to topping the national polls (see story, page 1), the Harvard men's hockey team is dominating the ECAC standings and statistics.

Harvard (15-0 overall, 13-0 ECAC) has a six-point lead over St. Lawrence (16-1, 11-1) in the standings, with Cornell, RPI, Vermont and Clarkson rounding out the top half of the bracket. The Crimson also holds the first four spots on the scoring list and boasts the league's top two goaltenders in freshmen Allain Roy (1.80 goals-against-average) and Chuckie Hughes (1.83 g.a.a.).

Senior center Allen Bourbeau leads the scoring pack with seven goals and 22 assists for 32 league points, followed by junior C.J. Young (13-13--26), Captain Lane MacDonald (11-13--24) and sophomore Peter Ciavaglia (7-16--23).

Here Today...: St. Lawrence (16-1, 11-1) may have had the shortest-lived stay on top of the NCAA rankings this season. The Saints, ranked number one in the poll released January 11, fell to fourth this week after losing to the Crimson, 5-1 last Saturday in Canton, N.Y.

Expect Harvard to hold onto its number-one spot a little longer than the Saints--the Crimson's perfect record won't be challenged until January 31, when Harvard travels to New Haven, Conn., to play Yale.

But Harvard might be a little rusty when it heads into the Elis' Ingalls Rink, better know as the Yale Whale. Coach Bill Cleary is not holding official practices until exams are over.

Not the Swimsuit Issue, But...: Sports Illustrated's Austin Murphy joined the Crimson on last weekend's trip to the North Country, and spent the weekend living and breathing Harvard hockey.

Harvard's weekend sweep of Clarkson and top-ranked St. Lawrence should provide a lot of copy for Murphy's planned feature on the Harvard icemen. But Murphy was more impressed by the scene on the Crimson bus en route to Canton.

"I couldn't believe it," Murphy said. "All the way [to upstate New York] the bus was quiet. Everybody was studying. Only at Harvard."

Look for the story of the studious Crimson on newsstands tomorrow.

Young Guns: Junior C.J. Young will be making a repeat appearance in Sports Illustrated--Young's mug was featured in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the current (January 16) edition of SI.

Young was honored for his performance in Harvard's 10-0 rout of Dartmouth on December 12, during which he tallied three short-handed goals in a 49-second span--a new NCAA record.

Young scored a total of five goals in the contest.

Goal of the Week: Ciavaglia's short-handed tally turned out to be the game-winner at St. Lawrence, but it was senior Ed Presz who was basking in the spotlight.

Presz dove on his stomach and slid through the slot to tip a Tod Hartje pass just left of SLU goalie Les Kuntar, giving Harvard a 1-0 lead in the first period. It was the first of two goals for Presz, who combined with Hartje for another tally in the third period.

Big Mac: MacDonald is only two points short of tying Bob Cleary '58 for second place on the Harvard career scoring list. Cleary, brother of Harvard Coach Bill Cleary, tallied 195 points in only three seasons of varsity action. Scott Fusco '85-86 tops the list with 240 career points.

After challenging Kuntar on two solo runs down the ice--each time slipping three Saint defenders--MacDonald stuffed in his 93rd career goal in the St. Lawrence game. The goal put him in second place on the all-time Harvard goal-scoring list.

"God, [MacDonald] can skate," St. Lawrence Coach Joe Marsh said. "He handles the puck very well. He's very deceptive."

Welcome to the North Country: From the outside it looks like a hardware store. From the inside it looks like a glow-in-the-dark banana field.

That's Clarkson Walker Arena.

Because of the arena's poor lighting and yellowish tint, the ice emitted a strange glow that reflected off the yellow uniforms of the Clarkson players.

You need more than a program to identify the Golden Knights on their home rink. How about some shades?

Welcome to the North Country II: A line began to form outside St. Lawrence's Appleton Arena two hours before last Saturday's game between the Crimson and the Saints.

Was it for a Bruce concert? No, it was for the game, which was the hottest ticket in the North Country last weekend.

Appleton housed some strange characters Saturday, including the famous singing moon from those McDonald's commercials. So that's where he lives.

Rabbit Talk: Those five bunnies, Harvard's newest Bright Center residents, were spotted in Appleton, cheering behind the Crimson bench.

How quickly they forget the big guy with the signs.