Men's Hockey to Visit Terriers

While most students and athletes are thinking of Thanksgiving as a welcome respite from the daily grind of academia, the Harvard men's hockey team (2-3-1, 2-3-1 ECAC) has some serious business to take care of at Boston University tonight before it settles down for its turkey dinner.

"We can play much better than we have been," junior defenseman Brian Famigletti said. "I think in the Brown game we definitely turned things around."

It's still early in the season and Famigletti cautions that you cannot judge a team by its first six games. The Crimson did defeat the Bears, 2-1, one week ago, but it was far from a resounding defeat. The power play looked slightly improved, but the Crimson still did not capitalize on any of its four-man advantages.

The Crimson is currently on an 0-for-30 scoreless streak on its power play, a fact that should set off alarm bells in even the most die-hard of optimists.

After scoring five goals against Brown in the season opener, Harvard has scored only nine goals in its last five games. It has reached the point where it must start scoring more goals if it's going to compete in the ECAC, let alone with a national powerhouse such as B.U.

And the Terriers are definitely one of the best in college hockey this year. As of yesterday, the team was ranked second in the nation in the Around the Rinks U.S. College Hockey Poll.

"I don't see why we should be any more worried about B.U. than any other team," Famigletti said.

B.U, on the one hand, is a Hockey East team and not a league opponent, so in looking ahead to the ECAC playoff race, the game is of no real significance. On the other hand, tonight's game is a preview of one of Boston's biggest and most attended sporting event--the Beanpot.

Harvard faced Boston University in the Beanpot during the 1992-1993 season and won 4-2. Earlier in that season, however, that same team lost to Boston University, 4-3. As fate would have it, the Crimson is slated to faceoff against the Terriers in the first round of the Beanpot this year.

One possible concern tomorrow is that last year, the Crimson had terrible luck playing weekday games. Coincidence?

"I don't think having a game during the week had any reason to do with why [we lost so many games during the week last year]," Famigletti said.

A win tomorrow against B.U. will go a long way in rejuvenating this struggling Harvard team, giving it the confidence it needs to get a hold of this season before it slips away.