Icemen Invasion Colors ECAC Crimson

The final ECAC standings and statistics look a lot like they did all season--Crimson.

Harvard (24-2 overall, 20-2 ECAC), winner of the regular-season title, also claimed the top three spots on the scoring leaders' list and boasts the numbers one and two goaltenders.

With its 4-2 win over St. Lawrence last Friday, the Crimson captured its fourth consecutive ECAC crown. With two assists in Harvard's 7-5 win over Clarkson the following night, sophomore Peter Ciavaglia nabbed top scoring honors in the league.

Ciavaglia's 42 points (10 goals, 32 assists) gave him the edge over teammates Allen Bourbeau (9-32--41) and C.J. Young (23-17--40). Young led the league in goal production, while Ciavaglia and Bourbeau were tops in assists. Captain Lane MacDonald finished fifth (18-20--38), and sophomore Ted Donato (12th, 7-24--31) also made the list.

In the defensive end, rookie Allain Roy finished the regular season with the top numbers in everything but saves and minutes played. Roy allowed only 20 goals in 10 games and recorded a .925 save percentage and a 2.07. goals-against average.

Roy couldn't claim the other categories because he was splitting time with the ECAC's second-best goaltender, freshman Chuckie Hughes (.925 save percentage, 2.63 g.a.a.)

'Mack's Back: Junior defenseman Scott McCormack returned to the ice for last weekend's games after sitting out seven weeks with a broken collarbone. And in case the spectators at last Friday's St. Lawrence game didn't catch the return of his name to the line-up, McCormack made everyone at Bright aware that he is back.

On his first shift, McCormack blasted a slap shot from the right point that whizzed by Saint goalie Paul Cohen to give Harvard an early 1-0 lead. It was his first goal of the season.

Where Was He?: Junior defender Kevan Melrose has a reputation for a hard-hitting style--both on and off the ice.

Last Saturday night, Melrose bumped a few Clarkson Golden Knights around--earning an interference penalty in the first period and a slashing penalty in the third.

Usually when Melrose is whistled for a penalty there's no sense debating the call--the opposing player is often on the ice and the crowd's chants of "Melrose, Melrose," gives the defenseman away.

But on Saturday's slashing penalty, Melrose had an alibi. He wasn't even on the ice when the call was made. But he was still forced to serve the time.

Goal(s) of the Week: Split this award into categories--most exciting, most creative and most skillful--and MacDonald would still walk away with virtually all the honors.

Just the crowd's reaction to MacDonald's first goal last Saturday night--the 100th of his career--qualifies it as the most exciting goal of the week, if not the season. MacDonald joined Scott Fusco '86 as only the second Harvard hockey player to break the century mark. Fusco netted 107 goals during his Crimson career.

As for creativity, a MacDonald power-play goal in the third period against Clarkson used an unusual object to deflect the puck into the net--the back of the goaltender.

MacDonald batted the puck back and forth at the right side of the net while Young moved into position at the other side of the goal. But Young never had a chance to touch the puck. MacDonald angled a shot that slid behind Fletcher, bumping against him and falling into the front left corner of the goal.

Melrose netted the sweetest goal of the week--a tip-in that gave Harvard a 2-1 lead in the first period against St. Lawrence--but it was MacDonald's skill that provided the set-up.

After picking up the puck in the neutral zone, MacDonald slipped two Saints and managed to fire off a pair of shots before his teammates caught up to him in the SLU end. Melrose won the race to the goal, deflecting in the rebound of MacDonald's second shot.

ECAC Final Standings Team  Ivy  Overall HARVARD  20-2-0  24-2-0 St. Lawrence  18-4-0  25-5-0 Colgate  15-6-1  19-9-1 Clarkson  13-7-2  16-12-2 Cornell  13-9-0  15-11-0 Vermont  13-9-0  18-12-0 Yale  10-12-0  11-17-1 RPI  8-11-2  12-14-3 Dartmouth  7-14-1  8-17-1 Army  6-15-1  12-16-1 Princeton  4-17-1  6-19-1 Brown  1-21-0  1-25-0