UNH Challenges Skaters Tonight

Still euphoric over its first Beanpot championship in six years, Harvard's varsity hockey team moves into the final stretch of the season when it plays the University of New Hampshire at 8 p.m. tonight at Watson Rink.

In the last four weeks, the Crimson has won six consecutive games, upped its record to 13-4-1, and moved into second place behind Cornell in both the Ivy League and E.C.A.C. standings. Harvard still his important contests against Princeton, Cornell, and Yale (two), however, before it finished what should be its finest season since 1962-1963.

New Hampshire, which played B.C. last night at Durham, N.H., has been alternately brilliant and mediocre in compiling its 17-3-1 record. It owns victories over B.U. (6-3) and St. Lawrence (5-4)--two teams that have vexed Harvard--and erased a three-goal deficit to tie Clarkson, 4-4.

But the Wildcats have also had disappointing games, including an 8-1 loss to Cornell, a 6-2 loss to Colgate, and some narrow wins over unimpressive opponents.

New Hampshire's biggest assets are goalie Rick Metzer. Who ranks third among Eastern goal tenders with a 2.61 goals-allowed average, and sophomore center Louis Frigon, who leads the team's scorers with 40 points--30 goals and ten assists.

Good Gurry

Harvard's goalie and center--Bruce Durno and Joe Cavanagh, respectively--have also proved to be its greatest strengths. Although Durno's 3.5 goals-allowed average does not rank him among the top five goalies in the East, his solid, often outstanding, goal tending his offset the Crimson's sometime uncertain defensive work.

Only Chris Gurry has been consistently effective among the defensemen, but with the return of Terry Flamen and the increasing steadiness of Dave Jones and Terry Driscoll, Harvard's defense should improve.

As for Cavanagh, it is not difficult to see how much he has contributed to the Crimson's success. Not only has he scored 45 points--an average of almost three a game--but he has tallied in every game this season. Cavanagh's eight points in the Beanpot earned him the most valuable player award over such All-American performers as B.C.'s Tim Sheehy and B.U.'s Herb Wakabayashi.

Moreover, Cavanagh's line has proved to be the Crimson's only consistent scoring threat. Wings Steve Owen and Dan DeMichele rank second and third, respectively, behind Cavanagh in scoring, and the line's total point production accounts for over 40 per cent of the team's total.