Icemen Whip Princeton, 5-3; Whiston and Olson Stand Out

PRINCETON--The Harvard hockey team has forgotten Mark Whiston's scary first period-and-a-half in the Crimson nets. They don't think it's important that when Greg Olson scored six minutes into the second period, it had been seven goals and two weeks since any line but Instant Karma had been on the ice for a Harvard redlighter.

All the icemen know is that, thanks to third-period goals from Phil Falcone, Greg Britz and Dave Connors and a dynamite second half from Whiston, the first quarter of their four-part playoff saga has ended successfully--with a 5-3 victory over Princeton at Baker Rink last night.

Although Olson's tally had brought the Crimson to within 3-2 at 6:58 of the middle stanza, it took fine play from Whiston the rest of the way to keep the game that close.

Magic Marker

The freshman, subbing for the injured Wade Lau and playing his first game in six weeks, came alive with Olson's marker (his team-leading fifteenth). And as in Whiston's last--and only other--ECAC win, the 7-6 thriller at Colgate in early December, the icemen came back.

Two minutes into the final period, Falcone came from behind the net and tucked the puck through the legs of Tiger goalie Ron Dennis. Less than two minutes later, Britz gave Harvard the lead for the first time in the game with a backhand off a Shayne Kukulowicz pass. Connor's breakaway tally at 11:49 ended the scoring.

Uneven

Earlier, Princeton's Jim Matthews had started things off with a goal at 14:59 of the first period, but the Karma line tied it with a chalkboard three-on-one breakaway. Olson to Michael Watson to Tom Murray.

Whiston played an uneven first period. He looked quick making saves, but had problems actually tending the goal--stopping and directing loose pucks, playing to his defensemen and staying in control of the game.

Rusty

"I was a little tense," he said in the locker room after the game, adding "I hadn't played in a while. The important thing is getting confidence in yourself making those first few saves."

It took some time--Matthews tallied twice more to open the second period--but once Whiston got his feet on the ground and his mind ready, he was virtually unstoppable. Make that unstoppable--Matthews' third tally of the game at 3:28 of the second period ended the Princeton festivities for the day.

The Notebook--It would have seemed hard to believe a year ago, but Murray has become a genuine ECAC superstar. His goal and assist gave the senior captain seven points in seven consecutive Harvard goals over two games...Princeton's Ray Casey had an easy night at the rink. Casey picked up a game misconduct for spearing Ken Code just below the throat after the whistle had blown four minutes into the game. Luckily for all concerned, Code only missed one shift. In the interest of fairness, it must be mentioned that Code drew a two-minute minor for high-sticking on the play, but that is no defense for Casey's retaliation.