Martins Again Brilliant as Harvard Scores Three-Power Play Goals on the Night

Harvard's men's hockey team knew that it could score, knew that it could play defense, and knew that it could dominate.

The only question going into Saturday night's game against Cornell at the Bright Hockey Center was whether the Crimson could stay focused playing a decidedly inferior Big Red team just 48 hours before the finals of the Beanpot Tournament.

The Crimson answered any questions about its mental toughness affirmatively on Saturday night, putting together a workmanlike 4-0 win.

Although Harvard did not put the game away until midway through the third period, the contest was one-sided affair from the opening face-off, and the Harvard's special teams took center stage in the dominating effort.

After controlling the action in the early stage of the game, the Crimson capitalized on its first power-play opportunity of the night just nine seconds after Cornell's center Mike Sancimino was directed off the ice for holding.

Crimson senior left-winger Chris Baird won the face-of, sliding the puck back to Derek Maguire, who sent a cross-ice pass to Steve Martins, who in turn, moved in and slapped a low shot through the pads of Big Red goalie Andy Bandurski. Martins' 15th goal of the season, assisted by Baird and Maguire at 5:20 of the first, gave the Crimson a 1-0 lead and proved to be the game-winner.

"Our power-play is really working." head coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "We've gotten all the rust off our power-play unit from the exambreak."

Mid-way into the second period the Crimson's power play unit struck again when martins scored his second of the night.

After Captain Sean McCann's shot from the left circle ricocheted off the right post behind Bandurski, Martins skated to the puck and lifted it into the net at 10:26 of the second. McCann and Baird were credited with assists on the goal.

Facing a two-goal deficit and feeling the game rapidly sipping away, the Big Red tried to increase the offensive pressure on Crimson sophomore net-minder Tripp Tracy.

The Crimson defense, though, proved inpenetrable, allowing the Big Red only 22 shots on goal, most of which were unscreened perimeter shots that Tracy cooly contained.

"I was very impressed by the quality of our defensive play tonight," Tracy said.

The Crimson penalty-killing unit also held the Big Red scoreless on six opportunities--often taking the initiative themselves and pressuring Cornell's defense.

With Crimson penalty-killers Tom Holmes and Martins fore-checking aggressively, the Big Red were out-shot on several occasions on their own power play.

"Tommy [Holmes] did a great job," Martins said of his line-mate. "Our penalty-killing really boosted team morale."

The Crimson's senior winger Brian Farrell scored the back-breaker at 6:43 of the third--another power-play goal assisted by Maguire and Martins.

The goal came after some pretty interior passing around the slot which left Bandurski sprawled out of position and Farrell a net-size opening.

With the game fairly in hand, the action turned ugly for a few moments late in the third as a near brawl erupted in the Cornell goal crease.

The skirmish developed after a wild flurry deep in Cornell's zone, which saw several players pile up into the goal. The fists were already loose when the whistle was blown and only after several minutes were the referees able to restore order and assess penalties. The melee resulted in two pairs of incidental minors and a roughing call on freshman Stewart Swenson, a last-minute sub for freshman Ethan Philpott.

"We knew Cornell was going to be real physical," Tomassoni said. "It was clutch and grab the whole way."

The final goal of the night for Harvard came on a break-away empty-net goal at 18:01 by freshman Joe Craigen, who was assisted by Swenson.

The Crimson ended the game 3-6 on power plays, and Tracy finished the contest with 22 saves and his first shut-out of the season.

Beanpot Tonight: Harvard will face Boston College tonight in the final of the 42nd Annual Beanpot Tournament.

The Eagles defeated the Huskies of Northeastern in their semifinal game last Monday in a thrilling, double-overtime 5-4 game that saw John Joyce score the game-winner almost 87 minutes into the game. Harvard beat B.U. in its semifinal 4-2. HARVARD, 4-0 at Bright Arena Cornell  0  0  0  --  0 Harvard  1  1  2  --  4

First Period

Har--martins 15 (Baird, Maguire) 5:20 (PP).

Second Period

Har--Martins 16 (McCann, Baird) 10:26 (PP).

Third Period

Har--Farrell 19 (Martins, Maguire) 6:43 (PP).

Har--Craigen 4 (Swenson) 18:01 (PP).

Saves:Cor--Bandurski 11-10-13-34: Har--Tracy 5-10-7-22.