...While Brown Sends Icemen Reeling

Bill Gilligan and a group of castaways from Brown sailed into Watson Rink on Saturday night, and by the time they lifted anchor, it was the Crimson which felt shipwrecked. The Bruins made off with a convincing 8-5 triumph over the natives, sending Harvard down to its third straight loss of the season, and causing the Crimson to fall six points behind Brown in the Ivy League standings and it's not even Christmas yet.

Brown had entered the contest with a three-game winning streak, which included an easy victory over Cornell, but the Bruins have a habit of capsizing in big games. Against a Harvard squad, though, which has yet to get its act together, Brown not only remained afloat, but whenever there was any danger of springing a leak, the holes were filled quicker than you can say Thurston Howell III.

On the Level

The first period began on an even keel, as the teams traded power-play goals. Freshman center Dave Roberts successfully converted a three-on-two break with Harvard's Gene Purdy in the penalty box to give Brown the early lead, but five minutes later, Kevin Carr deadlocked matters with a shot from the right wing, his first goal of the season.

Midway through the period, Gilligan, with Bill Horton off for charging, set up the first of four goals for which he was responsible by stealing the puck from the Crimson defense. Brown's leading scorer then shoveled it in front to an uncovered Bob McIntosh, whose flip shot eluded Brain Petrovek and gave the Bruins a lead which they never lost.

Harvard had its opportunities, thanks to two Brown penalties, but was unable to capitalize on either of the advantages (on the first the tying goal was disallowed by the officials), and left the ice trailing 2-1 after the opening period.

Second Period Blues

No sooner did the Crimson return from the lockerroom, though, and it quickly became 3-1, as Gilligan and Bill Lukewich sent McIntosh in alone right off the faceoff and in six seconds Brown had upped its lead by one.

One soon became two, as Roberts scored his second goal on a deflection, before the Crimson made its only real attempt to get back into contention.

Paul Haley tipped in a loose puck at the goalmouth at 8:20, and exactly a minute later, freshman Jim Trainor's first varsity score flew over Brown goalie Kevin McCabe's left shoulder to narrow the margin to 4-3.

Thirty seconds before the close of the period, Brown received a lucky break, as forward Wayne Lucky held the puck on a two-on-one break with Roberts and beat Petrovek (who only had 16 saves) for a 5-3 lead. Another Haley goal early in the third period brought Harvard close for the last time, before the Bruins exploded again in the final stanza for three game-breaking goals.

Twice, Gilligan set up Neil LaBatte at the point, once with Harvard a man shy, and on both occasions, the sophomore defenseman sent the puck goalward. Finally, with the Crimson on the power play, freshman Mike Mastrullo insultingly added Brown's eighth score as he slid a slap shot along the ice past Petrovek and killed a few worms in the process. A late goal by Horton was responsible for the final score.

In outscoring Harvard by a goal in each period, Brown's superiority proved amazingly accurate. As for the Crimson, it'll have to make the best of things, but, as was the case with the S.S. Minnow, it's an uphill climb.