All Crimson From the Garden

BOSTON--Boston Garden has never been kind to the Harvard mens' hockey team. But, thankfully for the Crimson, the Causeway Street institution has been downright mean to Boston College.

The Crimson defeated the Eagles of Boston College in front of a sold-out Garden crowd, 6-4, last night.

After climbing to a seemingly comfortable 5-2 lead midway through the final period, Harvard let an inspired B.C. team--seeking to win one last Baanpot for retiring Coach Len Ceglarski--back into the game.

The Eagles consistently intercepted Harvard passes and kept heavy pressure on the Crimson net. B.C. netted two goals in five minutes to cut Harvard's lead to one with a little more than five minutes left.

But a last minute Tim Burke empty-net goal and fierce defensive play by the Crimson nailed the coffin shut and assured Harvard's first victory in the Beanpot in two years.

"We kind of started to go into a shell," Burke said. "They got off some quality shots, and we didn't play tight in our own end."

"We slacked off a little defensively. We got a little sure of ourselves," freshman Steve Martins said.

Of course, all of that means very little because the Crimson came away from the Garden with a victory featuring impressive offensive play and firm defense in the clutch.

Harvard controlled the pace of the game and the puck for most of the night, outshooting B.C. by more than a 2-1 margin.

The Crimson's record is now 11-3-3.

Last night's win by Harvard and Boston University will set up a championship game between the two schools to be held next Monday night--a repeat of the 1990 beanpot final matchup in which B.U. manhandled Harvard, 8-2.

Both teams came out a bit flat at the beginning of the contest.

The Crimson and the Eagles combined for a scanty six shots in the first ten minutes of scoreless, penalty-free play.

With 15:50 gone, the Crimson finally broke through, courtesy of Ben Coughlin. His blast from in front of the blue line during the game's first power play gave Harvard the lead.

While the Concord, Mass., native's tally proved to be the only score in the opening period, B.C. goalie Scott LaGrand was forced to fend off a flurry of Crimson shots near the end of the first 20 minutes. Harvard ended up outshooting the Eagles, 12-4.

Harvard continued to blast LaGrand into the second period, tallying twice, but a few slick B.C. plays ensured that the Eagles remained just one back.

Only 2:08 into the period, the speedy Martins intercepted a B.C. pass at the blue line and, driving in front of the cage, slapped a shot into the left side of the net.

It took the Eagles only 31 seconds to counter. Sophomore defender Michael Stalla flipped a beautiful pass in front of the Crimson cage, and freshman Jim Krayer punched the pass through Harvard goalie Allain Roy's legs.

Harvard senior Jim Coady, playing in his second straight contest, pushed the lead back to two five minutes later, but B.C. forward Marc Beran's breakaway tally negated Coady's efforts.

With Harvard ahead 3-2, the two teams traded moments of offensive intensity. Neither team, however, could convert.

Harvard began to distance itself from B.C. by putting in two goals early in the third period.

With 2:30 elapsed, sophomore defenseman Sean McCann netted his third goal of the season after a perfect centering pass from Burke eluded B.C. defenseman Scott Zygulski.

At the 5:42 mark, junior Matt Mallgrave sent many 'Pot fans home by netting a loose puck in front of the Eagles' goal, giving Harvard a sizeable 5-2 lead.

But, in typical Beanpot fashion, the Eagles rallied late in the third period.

Just after the halfway mark, B.C. sophomore John Joyce broke free and hammered a shot between Roy's legs to close the score to 5-3.

The Eagles cut into the Crimson's lead again at 14:38 when freshman Rob Canavan smacked a shot from the left side into the upper right hand corner.

But B.C. could go no further. Harvard managed to hold off the surging Eagles, led by incredible plays from Captain Kevin Sneddon.

At 19:46, Burke assured his team of the win by putting in an open-net goal to make the score 6-4.