Easy Night Ahead for Icemen

The Harvard men's hockey team battles Union tonight at Achilles Rink in Schenectady, NY.

But probably will not compare with the Trojan War in terms of excitement.

Harvard (12-1-1 overall, 11-0-1 ECAC) is ranked second in the country and is undefeated in 12 league games.

The Crimson has won eight straight contests, including two impressive blowouts last weekend in the North Country.

Union is 3-9-3 overall and 2-6-0 in the ECAC and in second to last place in the league.

And Harvard has already beaten the Skating Dutchmen once this season, blanking them 4-0.

All the facts point to an easy Crimson win.

Even Union Coach Bruce Delventhal admits he and his team have their hands full with a Crimson squad that may not have an Achilles heal.

"I don't know if Harvard can be stopped," Delventhal said. "I expect to see possibly the best team in the East out on the ice."

Delventhal said all Union can do is work hard against a Crimson attack with more weapons than an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.

"We don't have anyone on our team with anywhere near the skill of the top teams of our league, much less Harvard," Delventhal said. "We can't go out there and hope to trick anybody. All we can try to do is work."

But Crimson players said they know the dangers of looking past less skilled teams.

"We're not going to get complacent," junior defender Lou Body said. "It's going to be tough. Union's knocked off a couple of good teams. We're going to try and fire as much rubber as we can."

The Skating Dutchmen did beat Princeton last Saturday.

Junior wing Brian Farrell, who has moved up to fourth in the ECAC in scoring, also stressed how important it is for the Crimson to keep its focus and killer edge.

"[Union] is in a no-lose situation," Farrell said. "They'll be ready, and they'll be gunning for us."

The Skating Dutchmen, who have only one senior player on the team, are lead on offense by sophomore wing Chris Albert who has scored three goals and dished out seven assists this season.

In goal, sophomore Luigi Villa has shown a knack for keeping the puck out of the net, but instead of Villa, Harvard will face Union's other goalie in the rotation, Mike Gallant.

`Top Secret' Union Plan

Gallant, a sophomore netminder out of Stony Creek, Ont., has amassed a 5.30 goals-against-average and has not won a game all season.

If the Crimson attack continues the barrage it leveled against St. Lawrence and Clarkson last weekend, Gallant may have to be treated for shell shock after the game.

In fact, Delventhal said he might try to enlist the services of engineering students at Union to construct a device to help Gallant against the Crimson.

"It's top secret," Delventhal said jokingly. "Our engineering department has designed a plastic shield that would sit behind the goal and throw Gallant's image on to the ice to try and trick Harvard."

Give Union points for having the most creative defense in the ECAC.

But Union will need more than creativity to stop the Crimson machine.