Harvard Topples B.C. 6-4 in Beanpot; Crimson Will Meet Terriers for Title

Jack Garrity stuffed in Bobby Bauer's bullet center at 18:12 of the second period to spark the Harvard hockey team's 6-4 putdown of Boston College in the semi-final of the Beanpot Tournament in the Boston Garden last night. Boston University topped Northeastern 7-4 in the evening's sloppy opener and will face the Crimson in the final next Monday.

The Harvard captain's second goal of the night put the Crimson in the lead for good, 4-3, and shut off the Eagles' complexion-changing second-period comeback.

Sophomore stickhandler Ron Mark carried the Crimson momentum into the third period with a solo breakaway at 3:14. Mark stole the puck from Eagle defenseman Steve Cedorchuk at his own blue line and came in all alone on goalie Jeff Cohen.

B.C.'s third penalty of the night, a hook by Gordie Clarke at 9:28 of the final frame, set up Harvard's final tally. Sophomore defenseman Terry Flaman took a center from Mark and sent home a hard wrist shot from 40 feet out, straight on.

Harvard's play, a trifle unsure in the first period, reached crispness in the final stanza. The Eagles were completely stymied until they mounted a desperation drive in the final sixty seconds.

Cedorchuk narrowed the gap to 6-4 with a rocket from the left at 19:16. The Eagles pulled their goalie and lit the light again 24 seconds later, but the puck had been deflected in by Cedorchuk's skate and the goal was disallowed.

Early Lead

Harvard had moved to a seemingly comfortable 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Garrity and Dwight Ware. Garrity's tally salvaged a weak Crimson power play that folowed simultaneous B.C. penalties--one for holding, the other for handling the puck in a scramble in front of the Eagle cage.

Defenseman Ben Smith skated the length of the ice and swung the puck into the middle. Wing Pete Mueller carried an Eagle defenseman past the puck and Garrity zoomed in for a setup seven-footer at 14:33.

The fast-skating third line collaborated for the second tally two minutes later. Ware took a pass from Jack Turco at full speed and rifled a flying forehand from the faceoff circle, off Cohen and into the net.

Harvard raised its margin to 3-0 after six minutes of the second period, when first-line wing Bob Fredo slid a perfectly placed 30-footer into the goal's lower right corner.

B.C. undid Harvard's carefully wrought lead with a mid-period explosion of three goals, all engineered by star sophomore center Tim Sheehy.

Jim Prevett banged home the rebound of Sheehy's hard shot off the boards to break up Bill Diercks's shutout bid at 9:30. Sheehy tipped in Gordie Clarke's shot a minute later. Then at 13:37 John Snyder took a faceoff from Sheehy and beat Diercks with a screened 25-footer.

Diercks Stars

Junior Bill Diercks played a strong game in the nets for Harvard, gloving point-blank shots by Sheehy and Mike Flynn and kicking aside another half-dozen shots headed for the corners.

Part of the Crimson's success came from its rare achievement of 60 minutes of hard-hitting hockey without drawing a single penalty. The Harvard players checked well all evening and Chris Gurry and Flaman took especial care to keep the hustling Eagles honest.

In the other semi-final, underdog Northeastern temporarily surprised the crowd of 12,000 by taking a 4-3 lead in the third period. The Terriers rebounded with four goals eight minutes apart to earn the other final berth.

B.U. is trying for its third straight Beanpot title, while Harvard is gunning for its first Boston championship since 1962