Crimson Comeback Falls Short, 3-2, to Dartmouth

There will be a lot of talk about near misses and strong finishes, but the Harvard hockey team is back at the .500 mark after dropping a 3-2 decision to Dartmouth at the Bright Center last night.

The rambunctious Dartmouth squad bolted to a 3-0 lead when Mark Burton, Mark Bedard, and Chip Bettencourt tallied unanswered goals in the first period and a half. As in Saturday night's 3-2 loss to Brown, the icemen came back with a furious third period rush, but just as the Bruin's Paul McCarthy kicked away 21 shots to preserve that one-goal lead, Big Green netminder Bob Gaudet single-handedly put the brakes on the Harvard attack with a superb final stanza.

Gaudet, the Ivy's premier goalie for the past two years, kicked and scrambled for 34 saves on the evening, as the Crimson outshot the visitors in every period.

Though Harvard did dominate the third period, statistics for the first 40 minutes are misleading. The tight Dartmouth defense and intelligent play by Gaudet combined to limit the Crimson to a bunch of twenty-foot blasts and not much else.

One such rocket made it through the twines for the first Crimson tally, a slapshot from the top of the slot by Mark Fusco that Tom Murray deflected home at 12:39 of the first period.

That marker brought the icemen back to within two goals, but three Harvard penalties in the period's remaining seven minutes prevented the squad from building any momentum.

"It's tough to get into a flow with so many penalties," said Rick Benson, who teamed with Jim Turner and Gary Martin to form an effective trio. "(Turner) was out there killing penalties, so I had to sit an extra three shifts to get back in there. That makes things difficult," Benson added.

Benson managed to pop home the second Harvard goal at 11:14 of the third period (snapping a streak of seven straight Crimson goals by the Tom Murray-Greg Olson-Mike Watson 'Instant Karma' line), but once again the Crimson couldn't find a gamewinner.

The nearest of the near-misses came in a two-play sequence late in the period, when Murray, blood spattered over his shirt from a cut lip, lost a race to a centering pass with Gaudet. Moments later, the netminder blocked a Murray shot by falling on the puck in the slot.

"I happened to win the race to the puck," Gaudet said. "If there had been someone there (to receive the pass), they would have scored."

The icemen now go west with a 4-4 ECAC mark and return to conference play January 6 at Boston College. The comeback wins at Brown and Colgate have been neutralized by the twin 3-2 losses, and the season will start over with the new year for the squad and coach Billy Cleary who laments, "With a few breaks we'd be 6-2."

THE NOTEBOOK: Unsung honors for the day have to go to Dave Connors, Alan Litchfield and Tony Visone, all of whom played smart, aggressive games. Connors, Jay North, and David Burke skated well as a line, and should remain together... Crimson goalie Wade Lau played a fine game, stopping 20 shots and not letting anything by for the final 30 minutes. Lau continues to play better than his statistics indicate... Visone and Gaudet hail from the same home town, Saugus. Mr. Daniel Gaudet and his 15-year-old daughter made the trip to watch Bob...Good news from the doctor: forward Greg Britz, who has been out since the Northeastern game, is, according to Murray, "doing real well," while freshman center Phil Falcone, hurt at Colgate, has traded in his crutches for a cane and looks to be back for B.C.

Dartmouth 3-2 at Bright Center

Dartmouth 1 2 0 -- 3

Harvard 0 1 1 -- 2

Scoring: D, Mark Burton (Tom Cross) 1:36, D, Mark Bemard (Carey Wilson) 8:04, D, Chip Bettencourt (unassisted) 11:43, H, Tom Murray 7 (Mark Fusco, Jim Turner) 12:39, H, Rick Benson 1 (Turner, Gary Martin) 11:19.

Saves: D, Bob Gaudet 13714 -- 34 H, Wade Lau 8 5 7 -- 20

Attendence: 2800