Clarkson Dumps Icemen, 7-3; Loss Concludes 7-11-3 Season

Outskated, outsized, and just plain outdueled, the Harvard men's hockey team dropped its season finale to the ECAC playoff-bound Golden Knights of Clarkson, 7-3, Saturday night in Potsdam, N.Y.

Three unassisted breakaway goals by the high-flying Golden Knights and a penalty box door that wouldn't stay shut (14 minor penalties on Clarkson, seven on Harvard) highlighted the contest, which placed the Crimson's final ECAC record at 7-11-3 (8-15-3 overall).

"We played a hell of a hockey game," Crimson coach Billy Cleary exclaimed after the game. "Their forwards are the best we've seen all year--all the guys thought so.

"They are big, the biggest team we've played against this season," he said. "And they're great in their own rink, which is a little narrower than we're used to."

Bright spots for the Crimson included freshman defenseman Mark Fusco, who tallied one goal and assisted on the other two, and goaltender Wade Lau, who, in Cleary's words, "played a super game."

No Place Like Home

The Golden Knights gave Lau little time to get settled in the twins, scoring the first goal of the game just 1:21 into period one when Bryan Cleaver tucked the puck in behind Lau's pads for the only goal of the period.

At only 0:58 of the second, Steve Cruickshank beat Lau with a wristshot, and a minute and a half later, Golden Knight Kelly Morgan took a nice crossing pass from Bill Norton and flicked it between the posts, putting Clarkson up, 3-0.

Harvard came back at 4:10, with Mike Watson driving one home from the left circle for Harvard's first score during a five-on-three Crimson power play.

One of the Clarkson players came out of the penalty box, but that didn't stop Crimson forward Dave Connors from tipping in a Fusco slapshot to close the gap to 3-2 at 4:50 of the period.

Clarkson, 14-7 in the ECAC, pumped in two more red-lighters before the period ended, taking a commanding 5-2 lead.

No Patent Pending

The third period went scoreless until 13:48, when a patented Fusco slapshot found the net behind Clarkson goaltender Pete Mielzynski for the Crimson's third power play tally, cutting Clarkson's lead to 5-3.

But two goals by Clarkson's top forward, Mike Prestidge, the second short-handed, ended the game and the season for the Crimson.

THE NOTEBOOK: Fusco's three points, combined with the two he scored in Friday's 5-3 win over St. Lawrence, gave him the final team lead in scoring with 29 points. Freshman forward Greg Olson finished second, with 27 points and a team-leading 16 goals...Senior goaltender and co-captain John Hynes replaced Lau for the game's last four minutes to close out his Harvard varsity career... The 21 penalties were the most in a Harvard game this season.