Minnesota-Duluth Tops Icemen in Quarters

DULUTH, MINN-The Harvard men's hockey team closed out its season March 22 and 23 at the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD), dropping a pair of 4-2 decision to the NCAA quarterfinals.

The Crimson (21-9-2) completed a season in which it shocked pundits and itself by claming second place in the ECAC and earning an NCAA tournament bid with some of its finest hockey of the year.

Nonetheless, the Bulldogs proved too strong in front of highly partisan crowds of 5639-the 23rd and 24th consecutive sellouts-at the Duluth Arena

UMD went on to finished third in the tournament, after losing to eventual champion RPI 65 in triple overtime Friday night at Detroit's joe I ouis Arena Duluth topped Boston Collage, 7-6, in the consolation Saturday afternoon

Thursday, Providence beat B.C 4-3 in another triple overtime game. The tournament's Cinderella team which had beaten top-seeded Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich., in the NCAA quarters, fell to the Engineers, 2-1 in Saturday's final.

Ther was, however, no such fairy tale ending for the East's third-seeded Crimson squad, which lost to the West's second seed

Although UMD boats some of the top forwards in the country, including Bill Watson, who scored over a 100 points this year and picked up the 1985 Hobey Baker Award Saturday, the two crucial scores of the two-game total goals series came from a pair of Duluth defenseman

After the Crimson took a 2-1 lead early in the second period Friday night on Tim Smith and Bulldogs came back with three unanswered Scores. After Watson tied the game with his 47th goal at the 3:47 mark and Norm Maciver gave the host the lead less

than two minutes later, than two teams played even down the stretch

Harvard's Rick Haney, a product of Duluth East High School, was whistled for a questionable hooking penalty at 16:33 of the final period, and the potent UMD power play notched a crucial score

Defnseman Jim Johnson, filling in on an extra-man unit that normally boats five skaters with at least 58 points got his first powers play goal of the year, when Watson fed the senior in the right wing circle from behind the net

The score gave UMD a two-goal lead, which meant that the Crimson had to have its mind on more than just winning the second game.

Further, the game snapped junior Scott Fuso's consecutive game scoring streak at 29 games, three short of the ECAC record

Moreover Fuso, a Hobey Baker finalist and the ECAC player of the Year, played what may be the last two games of his collage career-depending on the kind of offer he gets from the Hartford Whalers this spring-with back pains that plagued him for last month.

Harvard opened up Saturday night with perhaps its finest period of the season. Just 30 seconds after the opening face-off, Smith poked home the second rebound of a Mark Benning slapshot from the point

Despite the high-caliber of its first period performance, the Crimson could not put a second goal past UND sophomore goalie Rick Kosti

Kosti and Harvard netminder Grant Blair put on a goaltending exhibition through both the games, making a number of outstanding saves at both ends of the ice

Both squads played ferocious, fats-skating styles that kept the netminder busy all weekend and the fans smiling

"It's the way the game is supposed to be played," Harvard Coach Bill Clearly said . "It's enjoyable, especially after some of the games we've played.

Holding a 1-0 lead, the Crimson need to get the total-goal series

"You're always thinking of being a goal behind," away and we had to take some chances".

At 4:44 of the second period, however. Tom Hazing knotted the score, besting Blair from the right circle high to the stick side.

The game's first penalty, to freshman Nick Carone at 10:40, gave the Bulldogs a power play chance that it took just 27 seconds to convert, Maciver shot over a fallen Blair who had gone done making the first save.

The score gave UMD a one-goal lead in the game and a three-goal lead in the series,

Peter Chiarelli pushed the Crimson back to with in the final minute of the second period, scoring from behind the net when his impossible angle shot caromed of Kosti's Skates and into the goal

Havard need two scores going in to the final period, but Herzig's rebounded score just 3:33 in to third sealed the Crimson's fate

As the clock ticked down the final seconds of the icemen's season, Clerly sent in his original Class of '85-his son, Billy Cleary, Captian Brad Kong Busconi Fusco and Greg Chalmers.

""We all came in together and we all went out together." Kwong.said.

"Ithought it was a little touching."

"I've been part of Harvard hockey for 21 years," the younger Cleary said. "I can't think back on anything special, it is all going by a little fast right now. Everything was great, that's why it hurts."

Chalmers, who took a year and a half off, will back next season, Fusco, whose claim on the title of the best collage hokey player should improve with Watson's defection to the Chicago Black Hawks this week, may be back and Blair, who guarded the net as the Class of '85 enjoyed its last hurrah will return after yet another scintillating stretch of playoff goaltending.

It may be particularly appropriate for the three seniors-Busconi, Cleary and Kwong-that they went.

with eight freshmen seeing regular times this year, the Crimson built a foundation for years to come, an effort that was molded in large part by its three seniors out on the ice at the end.

"Losing sucks," Busconi said with characteristic candor. "But we've got to be happy with what we've accomplished. Now one expected us to accomplish half of what we've accomplished and a lot of freshmen have grown this year.

"They [the seniors] gave the leadership and they've had a heckuva record, "Coach said.

In their four-year, the seniors went to the playoffs each year and to the national tourney three times

Even in the wake of a Final Fout appearance two years ago, this final season was sweet-few "rebuilding" years end with NCAA bids CrimsonPeter H. Schwartz