A Welcomed Jolt in the Firing Line

The Harvard men's hockey team may have received just the jolt it needed Monday night, by defeating Northeastern in the consolation game of the Beanpot Tournament at Boston Garden.

The Crimson (13-5-1 overall, 13-2 ECAC) faces some difficult tests from its league rivals in the next three weeks--including a visit from RPI February 22 and a road trip to Clarkson and St. Lawrence in the first week of March.

And a 7-1 victory over a powerful Hockey East club like Northeastern might have given Harvard the impetus to conquer those teams and hold on to first place in the ECAC.

"We have three tough weekends ahead of us," senior center Rob Ohno says. "And I think [the Northeastern win] might give us momentum for the next couple games."

In the romp over the Huskies, several Crimson players ended nagging scoring slumps.

Wing Tim Barakett--held scorless since Harvard's 7-0 triumph over St. Lawrence a month ago--came back in true "Killer B" form, pumping in one goal and recording two assists.

Captain Scott Fusco hadn't scored since early January before Harvard's opening-round Beanpot contest against Boston College last week.

But the Crimson's all-time leading scorer has since snapped out of his slump, pocketing two goals against B.C., a goal and an assist in Harvard's 4-2 victory over Princeton Friday, and a goal and two assists against the Huskies.

Third-line wing Steve Armstrong hadn't assisted or scored since the icemen's first loss at Wisconsin three days before Christmas. Eight games and a month and a half later, however, Armstrong finally picked up an assist for a pass that Ohno converted into a goal against the Huskies.

Although first-line forward Tim Smith has been feeding his teammates with good passes recently--most notably against Brown when the senior recorded a season-high five assists--he hasn't put the puck in the net since early January when Harvard topped RPI, 4-2, in Troy, N.Y.

Smith's scoring slump is particularly frustrating because the Burnaby, British Columbia, native needs just one more goal to reach 50 for his career.

"I keep banging away," Smith says. "They're just not falling."

The other member of Smith and Fusco's Firing Line, Lane MacDondald, hasn't had problems getting on the scoreboard recently. Over the last four games, the sophomore wing has scored three goals and recorded four assists.

The ECAC's leading scorer list--dominated since week one by Harvard players Fusco, Allen Bourbeau, Smith and Barakett--saw two new members climb into its ranks during the past week. And neither wears a Crimson jersey.

Cornell's Joe Nieuwendyk--with 14 goals and 17 assists--snatched third-place from Smith. And RPI's John Carter (14 goals, 12 assists) crept in front of Barakett into fifth place.

Fusco, meanwhile, continues to lead the league with 12 goals and 22 assists. Bourbeau sits only a point behind with 17 goals and 16 assists.

In the Ivy League, Bourbeau and Fusco are tied for first place in the scoring department with 23 points each. Smith, with 18, and Barakett, with 15, follow.

Speaking of Bourbeau, the sophmore forward and other half of the "Killer B" combination will be back in uniform against Cornell tomorrow.

Bourbeau missed the Northeastern contest with a leg injury sustained against B.C. in the opening round of the 'Pot.

Although Bourbeau played in the Princeton game, the coaching staff didn't want him to risk re-injuring his leg Monday.

RPI (11-4-1 ECAC) follows Harvard in the league standings. The Engineers--who had been cruising without a league loss since Harvard beat them over a month ago--visited a streaking Yale squad (11-5 ECAC) in New Haven Saturday and walked away with their worst defeat of the year.

Eli forward Bob Kudelski recorded a hat trick as Yale romped, 10-3, propelling the Bulldogs into third place in the league.

Cornell (9-4-2) follows the Elis. The Big Red chalked up two victories in its weekend visits to St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Cornell's Nieuwendyk earned ECAC player of the week honors--along with Kudelski--for his two game-winning goals and four assists over the weekend.