Four B.U. Goals in 2nd Period End Crimson ECAC Hopes, 6-2

An upset by Harvard wasn't impossible, everyone agreed, but the Crimson would need a few breaks. Instead, it was top-seeded Boston University which got the big break--when a Harvard defenseman deflected a pass into his own goal--and the Terriers went on to a routine 6-2 victory at the Boston Arena last night.

The victory advanced B.U. into the semi-final round of the ECAC hockey tournament. The loss dropped Harvard to a final 11-12 record, the Crimson's third year in a row below the .500 level after ten straight winning seasons.

Kent Parrot's aggressive play from the game's opening faceoff reflected Harvard's determination but also put him in the penalty box after only 29 seconds--a symbol of the Crimson's, and especially Parrot's, season-long frustration.

Harvard killed the first minute of B.U.'s potent power play, which has a 37 per cent payoff rate this season. But at two minutes even, co-captain Pete McLachlan shot the puck in from the right point to Mike Sobeski. Sobeski's drive was blocked but trickled through to Crimson nemesis Fred Bassi, who swung the puck in from the crease.

Eight minutes later. Harvard suffered its second penalty. Penalty-killers Dennis McCullough and Chip Otness, who weren't used on the first infraction, totally disarmed the Terrier play.

As the penalty ended. McCullough cleared out to defenseman Don Grimble. Grimble centered the puck from the left point to the streaking Otness, who fired it through Terrier goalie Wayne Ryan.

Less than a minute and a half remained in the period when Sobeski restored a narrow, B.U. lead from short range, after a good center by Bassi.

The game's turning point came after 6:34 of even hockey in the second period. Jimmy Quinn carried around a feeble check by Crimson Tom Micheletti and got off a good centering pass that went into the goal off Grimble's stick.

Three minutes later John Parker converted John Cooke's pass out from point blank range. Twelve seconds after that, the score was 5-1, as Herb Wakabayashi's stickhandling following the faceoff set up Serge Boily.

Wakabayashi and Boily, the Terriers' leading scorers with 63 and 55 points, combined again to build a 6-1 lead over dejected Harvard before the second period ended.

Both teams passed a tame third period, marked only by Bob Fredo's breakaway goal for Harvard. Pete Waldinger's width-of-the-ice pass sent the junior winger in alone, and he forced the puck through Ryan at 17:12.

Harvard goalie Bill Diercks and B.U.'s Ryan both registered 27 saves, though many of Ryan's were on clear shots from more than 40 feet away.

The game marked the final appearance of Pete Waldinger, a scrappy wing who possessed a goal-getting knack rare on this year's Crimson: Charlie Scammon, an exciting defenseman who was possibly Harvard's most improved player this year: and Dennis McCullough, the little-used captain who at least got the glory of an assist in his final outing. Goalie Bill Fitzsimmons, the fourth three-year veteran, made his last appearance a win over Dartmouth before the pressures of a thesis and a research paper prevented him from riding the long season out to its conclusion.