M. Hockey Tie Means Sole Possession of Last Playoff Spot

SCHENECTADY, NY--One of Harvard men's hockey coach Ronn Tomassoni's favorite little proverbs states that the season is not a sprint, but a marathon. Entering last Friday with just nine games left on the schedule and tied for the final ECAC playoff spot with Dartmouth, that no longer is true--the sprint has begun.

At Achilles Rink, the Crimson had a golden opportunity to take a head start on the race drawing Union, the only team with a worse conference record than it. HARVARD  1 UNION  1

False start.

Harvard (8-10-2, 3-9-2 ECAC) failed to play with the intensity and desperation of a team battling for its playoff life and tied Union (3-17-3, 1-10-2), 1-1, Friday night. The Crimson lost a chance to collect two precious points and settled for just one against a team with just a single ECAC victory.

"We are in no position to take anyone lightly," Tomassoni said. "Our effort wasn't hard enough. We forgot that they are a desperate team also."

In a rare televised game for the Crimson, Harvard opened the scoring four minutes into the opening period--right after the first TV timeout. Captain Craig Adams fed freshman forward Jeff Stonehouse at the right side of the net. Stonehouse needed two whacks to knock the puck past freshman goalie Brendan Snee.

"[Senior forward] Robbie [Millar] and [Adams] made a nice play and I just drove to the net," Stonehouse said of his third career goal. "They got me the puck and I chipped it over [Snee]."

The Skating Dutchmen answered back three minutes later on a power play. Harvard junior goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo made the first save off a Union shot, but sophomore forward Dave Smith, crashing the net, pounced on the rebound to knot the score 1-1.

Known for its clutch-and-grab style, Union took the initiative in the first period. The Skating Dutchmen out-hustled the Crimson to most of the loose pucks and forced several Crimson turnovers. Harvard appeared tentative and lackadaisical, getting out-shot 9-5.

"Usually we are forced into a defensive style because we don't have the skill to keep up," Union Coach Kevin Sneddon '92 said. "Tonight we went at 'em and for the first time in a long while we played to win instead of not to lose; there's a big difference."

With 8:13 remaining in the first, the Crimson caught a huge break as Smith appeared to score his second power play goal off a rebound in the period. But referee Mike Noeth immediately waived off the goal, correctly ruling that the net was off its mooring before the puck went in.

Harvard gradually picked up its play through the second and third periods and began to match Union's grinding and banging. The extra rough stuff produced a total of 12 man-up situations, including a 54 second two-man advantage in the second for the Skating Dutchmen, which the Crimson killed rather easily.

Neither side would strike again after the first period as both goaltenders had outstanding games. Snee earned the game's first star stopping 33 Crimson shots and Prestifilippo grabbed the second star turning aside 27.

The Crimson really turned up the heat on Snee over the final five minutes of regulation. Its best chance may have come with just fourteen seconds remaining. Stonehouse slid a pass to sophomore forward Chris Bala at the top of the goal crease. Snee robbed Bala's redirection to keep the game heading to overtime.

Harvard may have lost more than just a point last night. Sophomore forward Steve Moore, last year's scoring leader, left the game in the second period with what Tomassoni classified as a hip pointer. There was no word whether he would miss tonight's Beanpot consolation game.

"We came up here to get two points, and we came away with one," Prestifilippo said. "We have to go home, regroup a little bit and next week come away with four."

Picking up those two points becomes precipitously more difficult for Harvard now. Tonight it battles No. 7 Boston College in the Beanpot consolation game, a team which Harvard stunningly upset 3-1 back on Jan. 13 at home.

After that non-league game, it hosts No. 8 Princeton on Friday and Yale Saturday. Princeton simply boasts one of the best teams in the nation led by Hobey Baker candidate Jeff Halpern, and Yale thrashed Harvard the last time they met, 7-1.

Every ECAC team has eight games remaining on the schedule. The point Harvard did gain did move the Crimson past Dartmouth into sole possession of the final playoff spot. However, that won't be nearly enough.

The sprint is on. When the starting gun goes off again this weekend, the Crimson had better get off the blocks.

HARVARD, 1-1 at Achilles Rink Union  1  0  0  0  1 Harvard  1  0  0  0  1

First Period

Har--Stonehouse 1 (Adams, Millar) 4:00.

Uni--Smith 1 (Szucs, Sproat) 6:14. (PPG)

Second Period

None. Third Period

None.   Overtime

None.

Saves: Uni--Snee 4-14-13-2 33; Har--Prestifilippo 8-7-10-2 27. Power Play: Uni--1/7; Har--0/5. Attendance: 2122

First Period

Har--Stonehouse 1 (Adams, Millar) 4:00.

Uni--Smith 1 (Szucs, Sproat) 6:14. (PPG)

Second Period

None. Third Period

None.   Overtime

None.

Saves: Uni--Snee 4-14-13-2 33; Har--Prestifilippo 8-7-10-2 27. Power Play: Uni--1/7; Har--0/5. Attendance: 2122

Second Period

None. Third Period

None.   Overtime

None.

Saves: Uni--Snee 4-14-13-2 33; Har--Prestifilippo 8-7-10-2 27. Power Play: Uni--1/7; Har--0/5. Attendance: 2122

None.   Overtime

None.

Saves: Uni--Snee 4-14-13-2 33; Har--Prestifilippo 8-7-10-2 27. Power Play: Uni--1/7; Har--0/5. Attendance: 2122

Saves: Uni--Snee 4-14-13-2 33; Har--Prestifilippo 8-7-10-2 27. Power Play: Uni--1/7; Har--0/5. Attendance: 2122