Icemen Freeze Bulldogs, 4-1; Up Record to 10-0 on Season

DULUTH, MINN.--Away from home, the outlook gets brighter and brighter.

The 10-0 Harvard men's hockey team last night scored a decisive 4-1 victory over the University of Minnesota-Duluth in front of more than 5000 fans at the Duluth Arena.

The Crimson, in the fourth outing of a five-games-in-eight-days road swing, scored three goals in the first period and dominated play the rest of the way to knock off the Bulldogs (6-9-1, 6-8-1 WCHA).

The triumph showed Harvard's ability to rise to the challenge of tough opponents: although the Crimson is yet to lose, it has had the advantage of a relatively easy early schedule.

Playing in the Duluth Arena is never easy, but the Crimson bounced back from a pair of 4-2 losses in the NCAA quarterfinals here two years ago in convincing fashion.

Harvard, off to its best start since the 1936-'37 squad went 13-0, has a chance for number 11 tonight here at the Arena.

Lane MacDonald scored a pair of goals--numbers 14 and 15 of the young season--and the stingy Harvard defense held the Bulldogs to just 12 shots last night.

The hosts, who had won five of their last six, couldn't find their game all evening, and failed to counter Harvard's offensive and defensive quickness.

"We were very inefficient," Bulldog Coach Mike Sertich said.

Across the ice, Harvard Coach Bill Cleary was happy with the way his squad rebounded after a surprisingly ragged first period to preserve its two-goal lead.

Harvard went without first-line center Allen Bourbeau, who was sidelined with a head cold. Rather than mix up his remaining three lines, all of which have been playing well, Cleary inserted senior Rick Haney--who had not played all year--on the first line. The Duluth native responded with a strong performance.

"With a pair of wings like that," Haney said, referring to his temporary linemates MacDonald and C.J. Young, "if anything goes wrong, it's got to be my fault."

Very little went wrong after the opening minutes.

The Crimson got off to an inauspicious start, when an errant Mark Benning pass deep in the Harvard zone found Bulldog Bob Alexander all alone in the slot. Alexander beat Crimson netminder Dickie McEvoy, and UMD was ahead just 2:06 into the contest.

The goal broke a string of 17 consecutive games in which Harvard had scored first. It also put the undefeated Harvard squad behind for the first time in more than 500 minutes of play.

Harvard didn't trail for long.

The Crimson wasted no time in silencing the cheering of the fans. Even as the Alexander goal was being announced, junior Andy Janfaza took a Craig Taucher pass 30 feet out in the slot and beat Bulldog goalie John Hyduke low to the stick side, redeeming Benning's error.

After two goals in 19 seconds, the scoring stopped for more than 12 minutes as the teams engaged in a fast, clean, but uneven exchange of play. Finally, MacDonald put home a rebound, with assists going to defensemen Josh Caplan and Don Sweeney.

Four minutes later, with Bulldog Stuie Plante in the penalty box and neither team playing particularly well, the Crimson had the game's only power-play opportunity.

With Bourbeau out, Cleary put big defenseman Chris Biotti in on the first power-play line. After a short shift, Cleary subbed in the second power-play line and put Biotti back on defense.

Just seconds later, Steve Armstrong tipped home a powerful Biotti point shot and it was 3-1, Harvard.

The second period saw no scoring and no penalties, but the Crimson dominated play.

A lucky 13:13 into the final stanza, MacDonald picked up the final goal--and put the game away--when he scored from 10 feet out on a beautiful cross-ice feed from Young.

Many of the questions that surrounded the Crimson have now been resolved. Even without the injured Jerry Pawloski, the defense has been outstanding. And offensively, for the first time in memory, Harvard is generating solid pressure from all four lines.

Most important, perhaps, the goaltending has stood up--and even shone at times. McEvoy picked up his eighth win last night, and junior John Devin goes tonight, with Bourbeau a possible starter at center.

Harvard, 4-1 at Duluth Arena

Harvard (10-0, 9-0 ECAC) 3-0-1--4

UMD (6-9-1, 6-8-1 WCHA) 1-0-0--1

First Period: 1, UMD, Bob Alexander 4 (unassisted) 2:06; 2, H Andy Janfaza 1 (Craig Taucher) 2:25; 3, H, Lane MacDonald 14 (Don Sweeney, Josh Caplan) 14:38; 4, H, Steve Armstrong 4 (Chris Biotti, Ed Krayer) 18:37. Penalties--UMD, Stuie Plante (holding) 17:29.

Second Period: No scoring. Penalties--None.

Third Period: 5, H, MacDonald 15 (C.J. Young) 13:13. Penalties--H, Janfaza (roughing) 14:19; UMD, Guy Gosselin (roughing) 14:19.

Saves--H, Dickie McEvoy 4-2-6--12; UMD, John Hyduke 5-9-6--20

Attendance--5664