Revamped Terriers to Host Crimson

Last time the Harvard hockey team visited Boston University's Walter Brown Arena, two Decembers ago, Jackie O'Callahan was the B.U. captain, the Terriers were the defending ECAC regular-season champs and Harvard hadn't beaten them in a conference game since 1974.

But quite a bit has changed since Dave Connors' overtime goal which gave Harvard a 4-3 win and sent the Red Line rooters home happy that night. For one, the icemen--destiny's dropouts themselves these last few years--haven't lost to a Terrier squad since, racking up a three-game winning streak (7-4 in the '80 Beanpot consolation game, 5-2 at Bright Center a year ago) that is Harvard's longest in the series since the early sixties.

And B.U. hockey lost the lustre that came with 15 straight playoff berths, five ECAC championships and three national titles in the past two decades. Successive ECAC ledgers of 8-14 and 10-12 have turned the Terriers into just another hockey team, mired in the pack with the Princeton's, the RPI's and the Harvard's.

It is only recently--as recently as last Sunday--that the Terriers have shown signs of revitalization. A 5-3 loss on the road to a Providence College squad nationally ranked in both polls showed that the Terriers (1-1-1 overall this year) are capable of playoff-caliber hockey, a boast coach Jackie Parker hasn't been able to make recently.

Leading the resurgence is captain Paul Fenton, who missed most of last season with a knee injury. The senior from Springfield has scored four goals in B.U.'s three games, including a hat-trick against non-league foe Merrimack, as well as adding three assists. The Terriers' other big gun is Tom O'Regan, who missed the first half of last season because of discipline trouble, but came on strong in the second half and has seven points (two goals, five assists) this season.

But it is also a revitalized Harvard squad that will play the Terriers tonight [7:30, Walter Brown Arena, take the Redline to the Green Line up Comm. Ave.]. The Crimson has opened the season with two strong wins in three outings--the loss a 5-3 setback at the hands of highly-regarded Colgate--and that's something for a team that hasn't finished a season over .500 since 1976-77.

Coach Billy Cleary has made one line-up adjustment for tonight's contest. Sophomore Jay North, who did not dress for the opener at Dartmouth and played on the fourth line with Bill Larson and Scott Powers against Colgate and RPI, will swap spots with Jim Turner and skate with classmates Phil Falcone and Shayne Kukulowicz tonight.

The trio of sophomores will skate the second shift behind the Wats Line connection of captain Michael Watson, Greg Olson and Greg Britz. That bunch was responsible for three goals in the 5-2 win over RPI Saturday night.

Wade Lau will play his fourth successive game in the Harvard goal, facing Cleon Daskalakis, who is doing the same for the Terriers. Steve Better, who played well in the Crimson junior varsity's 4-4 tie with Northeastern Monday night, will travel as the back-up.

In other Harvard hockey news, junior defenseman Mitch Olson, one of the top Crimson blueliners during the '78-'79 and '79-80 campaigns, has decided to return to the sport after a year away from school nad will start at the junior varsity level.