'Instant Karma'

It seemed like fate had been cruel to Tom Murray. The captain of the Harvard hockey team had, in a moment of inspiration, christened the Crimson's potent first line (Mike Watson centering for Murray and Greg Olson), "Instant Karma," a phrase coined by the late John Lennon.

But after "Instant Karma" scored all four goals in last night's 4-3 victory over New Hampshire, Murray felt inspired, not dejected, by the nickname.

"We won that one for Lennon," he said in the noisy locker room after the game. The connection combined to tally nine points for the contest, and has racked up 36 on the season, Watson leading the way with six goals and eight assists.

"They are doing the job," Crimson coach Bill Cleary said after the game. "They're passing, moving the puck and skating, and it's hard to stop any line dong all of those things. They don't stand still."

In an effort to shake up the other nine forwards and improve offensive production, as well as fill in for injured frontliners Phil Falcone and Greg Britz, Cleary moved senior Rick Benson to Falcone's old spot--centering for David Bruke and Jim Turner--and promoted freshman Tony Visone from the junior varsity.

But the new combinations, despite solid play, didn't produce any goals, and Cleary hinted at future changes.

"You have to shake things up and keep everyone honest," he said. "Right now, Murray's line is doing everything--they are the starters and the stoppers. What you try to do is move everybody else around and leave what's working well alone."

The third line, freshman Jay (Swoop) North flanked by Dave Connors and Shayne Kukulowicz, showed flashes of excellence for the third consecutive game, and just missed putting home a couple of goals.

And Visone, who played with Bob McDonald (seeing his first action of the season) and Derek Malmquist, also added some spark to the attack.

"He's been playing very well for the junior varsity," j.v. coach Kevin Hampe said. "I'm not sure how many goals he has, something like three or four, but he's been very impressive."

But for right now, as evidenced by the Olson-Olson-Watson-Murray on the Harvard side of the scoring summary, the offense has been all-"Instant Karma," a fact that worries some of the other forwards.

"They have really done the job," Benson said, "but you can't win relying on one line--it has to be a team effort. Hopefully," he added, "we'll put it all together and give them some help next time out."