Icemen Barely Escape From New York, 7-5

SCHENECTADY, N.Y.--The Harvard men's hockey team hoped it would open up its season on a lighter note, but things got serious quick here against a young but scrappy Union squad.

Harvard managed to stave off a last minute Skating Dutchmen charge and squeak by with a disconcerting 7-5 win.

Up 6-4 with 11 minutes to go in the game, Harvard failed to break the game open, even as Union continued to rack up penalty time, as it had done all night.

Harvard came up empty on three power play opportunities in the final period, offensive lapses that would come back to haunt the Crimson.

The Dutchmen inched within one with just over two minutes remaining in the game when Rick Clifford beat Harvard goalie Chuckie Hughes with a hard shot to the right corner of the net.

The Crimson defense, led by senior Rich DeFreitas was able to keep Union at bay, however.

"That's what I call survival," Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "We had them down but they never gave up."

Union set the tone quickly in the opening session, hitting hard, often and early. Harvard responded in kind, foresaking their usual swift, crisp style for the sloppy, bruising game of the Skating Dutchmen.

Needless to say, the first frame was about as pretty as downtown Schenectady. Within the first two minutes, the two teams generated an astounding six penalties, four of which were for roughing. It took until the 4:35 mark before the two teams finally went five-on-five, but even that didn't change the flow of the game. It still resembled a brawl.

Harvard pounded Union netminder Luigi Villa with several shots from close range, but Villa stopped the Crimson onslaught. Although the Crimson outshot Union 17-5 in the first period, it couldn't find the net often.

The Crimson finally drew blood at 12:51 on a power play goal from Brian Farrell. Captain Kevin Sneddon fired a hard shot from the right point and Farrell pumped in the rebound, giving Harvard a 1-0 advantage.

The game opened up a little bit after Farrell's score, but neither team could capitalize, and the period ended with Harvard holding a one-goal advantage.

Harvard came out strong in the second period, making Union look more like a Division 3 team than an ECAC competitor. Capitalizing on power plays and Union defensive lapses, Harvard tallied four goals in the period.

The Crimson offensive output was reflected in the period's shot total and the scoreboard. Harvard outshot the hosts, 18-9, and claimed a 5-3 lead after the period.

Farrell continued his scoring onslaught, notching a goal with less than 30 seconds gone in the period that put the Crimson up, 2-0. The Dutchmen defense was nonexistent as Farrell capitalized on a power play and weaved his way from the blue line to the net before back-handing a shot past Villa.

With under three minutes elapsed, Union star forward Craig Ferrero scored in his eighth straight game, tipping a Scott Whitney shot past Hughes and pulling within one.

But the Dutchmen defense wouldn't allow Ferrero to keep Union in the game. Sneddon quickly padded the Harvard lead, pushing his first career tally past Villa on the right side as Villa was caught cheating to the left.

Freshman forward Ben Coughlin continued Harvard's scoring by pushing two more past the porous Union defense to give the Crimson a 5-1 advantage.

The Crimson's prosperity was short-lived, however, as Union tallied twice with under 5 minutes left in the period. Dutchmen forwards Clifford and Bill McKenna, each notched a goal, cutting the Harvard lead to 5-3 as the teams entered the locker room.

Both teams came out flying in the final period. This time, both teams skated as well as they hit.

Harvard continued to dominate the offense, but Union capitalized on the Crimson's defensive breakdowns. Bill Railton punished Hughes from the right circle four minutes into the period to bring the Dutchmen to within one, 5-4.

Harvard answered two minutes later when Jim Coady stuffed the puck by Villa on a beautiful feed from Michel Breistroff.

Steve Flomenhoft netted an empty-net goal with two seconds remaining to put the Crimson up by two goals, finally allowing Harvard to breathe easily.