Crimson Icemen Start Weekend Trip Tonight As They Battle With Cellar-Dwelling Colgate

Colgate's hockey squad has been vying with Brown this season for the cellar of ECAC's Division One. So far, the Bruins have been winning that battle, but the Red Raiders are close behind.

Despite Colgate's knack for losing games (the squad has lost 11 this season in the division while winning four and tying one), Harvard cannot afford to take the Red Raiders lightly tonight, as it opens a weekend road trip in the icy northlands of upstate New York. The Crimson will take on the Big Red of Cornell tomorrow night.

Snakepit

Coach Bill Cleary emphasized yesterday that the team will not be looking ahead to Cornell while it takes on weaker Colgate. "Colgate has had some good games this year," Cleary said, "including an 8-7 overtime loss to New Hampshire in New Hampshire." Cleary emphasized the part about that loss coming in New Hampshire, one of the true snakepits in the Northeast.

Colgate has dropped four heartbreakers by one goal and has let a couple of teams off the hook, such as Cornell. The Red Raiders had the Big Red tied 3-3, going into the final half of the third period. Cornell won that one, 9-3.

"It seems we play 50 minutes of good hockey," Colgate Sports Information Director Dave Leonard explained yesterday, "but during that ten-minute lapse we get killed. It's been a screwy season."

So the fans in Hamilton haven't had an awful lot to cheer about, except perhaps Colgate's first line, which is comprised of a freshman, sophomore and a junior. They call it the ICBM Line. The "C" stands for Cyr, Joey, the freshman right winger. The "B" is for Barnett, John, the sophomore center, and finally the "M" is the first letter of Mirabelli, Rick, the junior left winger.

The "I" is for the ice, what else?

This may sound like Sesame Street or something, but the line poses a very real threat to the opposition defense, as it has accounted for over half the total goal production of coach Braden Houston's three lines. Cyr is the leading goal scorer with 17 and 6 assists, while Barnett has tallied 13 times with 24 assists and Mirabelli has 9 goals, 20 assists.

Shell-Shocked

At the other end of the ice, Chris Brig has been designated as the one who will attempt to keep Harvard's powerful offense from putting the puck in the net. Brig has seen that black rubber disc shot at him 882 times in 23 games this season. He has saved 784 of them for a 4.29 goals against average.

Colgate must lose tonight in order to stay close with Brown, and Harvard must oblige them in order to stay among the top four in the division.