Harvard and Michigan Tech Meet In Consolation Contest of NCAA's

Harvard's hockey team may wish it were meeting Cornell for the fourth time this season after it plays WCHA champion Michigan Tech in the consolation game of the NCAA tournament at 2 p.m. (MST) today at the Air Force Academy Rink in Colorado Springs. WHRB will begin its broadcast of the contest at 3:55 p.m. (EST).

Michigan Tech lost to Ivy League and ECAC champion Cornell, 4-3, in overtime last night in the semifinal round in one of the biggest upsets of the year.

The Big Red won its 25th consecutive game and upped its record to 27-1 behind the almost routinely superb goaltending of Ken Dryden, who made 40 saves.

Cornell will face defending champion Denver tonight at Broadmoor World Arena in the NCAA finals. Coach Ned Harkness's skaters will be seeking to regain the title they won in 1967 but lost last year by dropping their semifinal contest to North Dakota, 3-1.

Today's game will be the Crimson's second consecutive contest against a powerful western team. Harvard bowed to Denver, 9-2, Thursday night, and there is little reason to expect a closer score today.

Michigan Tech barely edged Denver for the league championship. The Pioneers had a 14-6 mark in league competition, but Tech's 14-5-1 slate gave them the crown.

Center Al Karlander is the team's top scorer and outstanding individual. He was the only Tech player to be named to the All-Conference first team and is a consensus All-American.

Karlander centers the second line with wings Lyle Moffet and Ed Schillington. The first line features Captain John Haines at center between wings Brian Watts and Carl Ahlston.

Michigan Tech's strength is its forwards, who make it the best checking team in the Western Conference. But is also gains some offensive punch from its outstanding defenseman Ken Desjardin, who leads the defensemen in points.

Desjardin's partner on the first tandem is senior John Grisdale: Bob Murray and Doug Hinton make up the second unit. Junior Gordon McRae will be in the nets for Tech.

Accurate and Unindicative

Denver's 9-2 rout was an accurate relection of the difference between the two teams, but it was not indicative of Harvard's play. The Crimson skated with the Pioneers for one period and almost prolonged the battle with two near-scores in the second. But the Westerners out-classed the losers in every department and pulled away in the last half of the game.

The strain of two games in three days against powers like Denver and Michigan Tech may alone be too much for the Crimson. Terry Flaman, George McManama, and Joe Cavanagh will all be playing with shoulder injuries. McManama and Flaman have not shown the effects of their injuries, but Cavanagh has been blanked in the last two games.

Bruce Durno will almost certainly be in for a difficult game if his defensemen give Tech as much freedom around the cage as they allowed Denver. The Pioneers capitalized on the situation and cleverly poked several close shots by Durno.

Michigan, which had not been in the NCAA tournament since 1965, will certainly not feel kindly today after its shocking loss to Cornell. It is unlikely that it will bow to another Eastern team.