Icemen "Laugh A Little Longer" at Big Red's Expense, 4-0

In a year of big wins, suffocating team defense and dominant forwards for Harvard Hockey--did you see the "Brian and Marty" show this past weekend?_-its nice to remember the so-called "little people," on both defense and offense.

Or both: witness freshman Marco Ferrari. He's not going to be in the Crimson lineup in tonight's Beanpot Final against Boston College, and he wasn't even pencilled into Saturday night's dress list until mid-morning; he awoke expecting to represent the junior varsity against Canterbury Saturday afternoon.

But fellow freshman Ashlin Halfnight couldn't fight his queasy stomach and Corneal all at once, and Ferrari was notified that he would be filling Halfnight's spot on defense alongside veteran Lou Body. It was only Ferrari's Fourth call-to-arms on the year, and by now he knows to jump at every chance.

Barely a period into the game he watched Ian Kennish hurt his hand on a Cornell slash, and suddenly Ronn Tomassoni had another assignment in store for the kid from Stoneham, Mass.

"Coach comes up to me and says, you're going to go up to right wing." Ferrari said, laughing at the idea. "We went through all the defensive coverage I was suppose to do and I just kinda said, 'OK'. You have to shift your whole way of thinking out there, and I haven't played forward for quite a while. At first it was hard adjusting, but it got better as we went along."

Indeed, as the game warmed up in its intensity, Ferrari zoomed (a bad pun, I admit, but with a name like "Ferrari," it can only get worse--get used to it, Marco) into a rapidly developing fray.

Cornell and Harvard have a rich history of rivalry, even ugliness--longtime Crimson supporters will recall when Big Red netminder Brian Hayward (remembered primarily today as Patrick Roy's ex-backup in Montreal) got beaded in the head but an unopened can of Budweiser in old Watson Rink. The competition has perhaps slackened in recent years, the Crimson not having lost at home in the series since 1985, but the intensity of the rivalry is still there.

"I hate those [guys]," Body said. "We've gotten beaned with fish in their place...it goes of here with the win."

"It was really annoying with their band right across from our bench," Steve Martins echoed, "But it's a good rivalry--I almost lost it right there at the end, and I was glad not to take a penalty."

"They brought all their fans down, and they were pretty loud," Ferrari agreed. "When you're waiting on the bench for your shift, you notice things like the battle of the bands, and it rally gets you ready to go back out on the ice."

And was he ever ready, flinging himself into the middle of the trash-talking down the stretch. He's not afraid to mix it up, and after taking a couple of whacks at a loose puck in the crease, he found himself in one of the quasi-brawls you'll ever see in college hockey.

"The goalie tied the puck up and I saw it bounce in front of him, and I went in there as hard as I could," he said. "Next thing I heard, there were four guys on top of me, yelling at me.

"But I like playing it physical--I don't mind it at all."

"He's going to be a good one--he's a tough kid," Body said of his brief defensive partner. "He'll battle with the best of them, something you don't often see in a freshman. He's got the toughness already, both mentally and physically, and you could really see him banging bodies on the forecheck after he moved up front."

He could have had a goal, too for his troubles. With the Big Red net empty at game's end, he and Joe Craigen streaked forward on a two-one-none...but Craigen kept the puck and banged it home. Probably a fine for Craigen in Harvard's kangaroo court this week, but Ferrari didn't complain.

Ferrari won't complain either if Halfnight has recovered from his flu (which seems likely--as Halfnight pointed out to me last night, it isthe Beanpot) as he watches again, rooting for his part-time buddies as they battle in the Garden. His lot for this year is well-defined, but with names like McCann, Maguire and Body set to graduate from the defensive corps after this year, he must know that his full-time spot in the Harvard line-up is only a year away.

"I play JV games as hard as I can, treating them just like any other game, and hopefully the coaches will notice the hard work I'm putting out there and give me chances like today."

He needn't really worry--Marco, you have been noticed, Enjoy the view from the stands while it lasts, because your next rest after this year won't come until after graduation.