B.C. Overcomes Varsity In Hockey Opener, 3-1

The varsity hockey team, playing true to form, lost its season's opener for the third straight year, 3 to 1, at Boston College Saturday evening.

A capacity gathering, which included Cardinal Richard J. Cushing--on hand for the inauguration of B.C.'s new McHugh Forum--watched the Crimson bumble ineffectually in an attempt to overcome an early B.C. lead until a third period goal put the home team out of reach.

This loss came as no surprise to veteran Crimson hockey observers who watched the sextet blow its opener to Providence College two years ago and repeat this performance against Boston University last December.

Crimson Dominates Play

However well one might have been prepared for Saturday night's frustrating display, it is always disappointing to see a superior team lose in the manner that the varsity lost to B.C. The Crimson, rallying after a shockingly bad start, dominated play for the better part of the evening. Its plays were much more organized than were those of B.C., but the varsity showed its almost traditional weakness of being unable to finish off a scoring play.

Coach Cooney Weiland's team was, as usual, well drilled in positioning, passing, and the other offensive skills which have made the varsity one of the most powerful teams in the East for the past four years, but when the puck was down near the B.C. goal, the Crimson just could not come up with a scoring combination.

Fischer Scores for Crimson

Harvard's only tally came at 5:13 of the second period, when Dick Fischer scored during a scramble in front of B.C.'s fine goalie, Jim Logue. The Eagles protested the goal vociferously, claiming that Fischer had kicked the puck in, but the score stood.

Boston College picked up its first goal just 23 seconds after the opening whistle. An horrendous defensive lapse by the varsity while trying to clear the puck let Bill Daley move in alone on Harry Pratt for the score. Three and one-half minutes later the same thing happened, and B.C. was off to a fast 2-0 lead.

For the rest of the evening the Crimson bombed Logue with 32 shots--against 20 shots at Pratt--but only a few of them were intelligently played. Several times a Crimson forward would break in on Logue and shoot dead on without attempting to outmaneuver him at all.

But the most glaring Crimson weakness, other than a decided slowness in comparison with the B.C. forwards, was its inability to apply the finisher. At 8:30 of the final period, the varsity had a two-man advantage for 45 seconds and still could not get off a telling shot. Although some of this may be attributed to bruising and skillful defensive work by Eagle captain Joe Jangro and the general adeptness of B. C.'s penalty-killing unit, this reflects, nevertheless, mainly on the Crimson's scoring ability.

The most unfortunate aspect of this performance, however, comes by way of comparison with last year's squad. The 1957 58 sextet also suffered considerably from this defect, but it was filled with such a number of scoring individualists, such as Bobby Cleary, Lyle Guttu, and Bob McVey, that the Crimson could afford to botch a few--or even a good many--scoring chances.

But this year's squad does not have such scoring prowess, and if it does not develop some decisive play in the offensive zone, the season could be a bleak one