A Bright Sweep of the Broncos

When it was all over, the Crimson stormed goalie Grant Blair, Coach Bill Cleary jumped for joy and the Bright Center crowd exploded last Saturday after the Harvard men's hockey team swept Western Michigan in a two-game, total-goals series, 11-4.

"We're number one."

"Fusco. Fusco."

After the team finished celebrating in front of 2259 of the most faithful fans of the year, two of Harvard's senior heroes found someone special to thank.

As their teammates skated off the ice, Blair and wing Tim Smith gave Bright Center rink manager Jack Kirrane a big hug.

Kirrane is best known to Bright fans as the man at the wheel of the Zamboni which cleans the ice between periods, but he is also the man responsible for maintaining the quality of the ice at Bright.

And quality ice means quality skating means a quality home record of 15-0-1, including four playoff victories.

"Jackie does a great job," Smith said. "And the fans are a big advantage when we start to get on a roll."

When the high-scoring Broncos of Western Michigan rolled into Cambridge they were riding a 12 game winning streak, had won 17 of their last 18, and had beaten Michigan State in the finals of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament in front of 14,000 hostile State fans.

But little ole Bright Center proved to be a bigger obstacle for the Big Broncs Bombers.

Flying hard and fast around the big westerners, the Crimson sailed to a 4-2 victory Friday night.

The key goal in that contest came just 39 seconds after the opening face-off when sophomore Lane MacDonald (three goals, four assists, seven points on the weekend) scored on a shot from the left corner boards. MacDonald's shot came in at an impossible angle then hit Western goalie Bill Horn's skates in the crease and caromed back into the net.

The freshman netminder never recovered from the shot.

Horn was shelled in the second contest as Harvard flew to a 4-0 lead and a 6-2 advantage after two periods.

And all the Western guns could do was watch as Blair put on a show in the Harvard net, stopping 27 shots the first night and 43 the second.

Blair picked up victories 22 and 23 and lowered his goals-against average to 2.62--the best in the country.

And a big reason the Broncos never got in close for higher percentage shots was the fine play of the Crimson blue-line corps.

"Harvard kept us at bay for two games," Western Coach Bill Wilkinson said. "We really never had a lot of chances to penetrate."

The highest scoring team in the country tried to blast its way past Blair, as all of its big scorers challenged him with hard bullets.

But Blair, who plays the angles better than anyone in the college game, knocked aside blast after blast, and Western was beaten at its own game.

Leading the Crimson offense was the Firing Line of MacDonald, Smith and Captain Scott Fusco, who took command, scoring goals and dominating play.

"This line has been great," Harvard Coach Bill Cleary said.

"The puck hadn't been bouncing our way," Fusco said. "It started going our way. It's a good way to close out a career here at home."

In the second game, however, the biggest goal came from the second Crimson line, the Killer B's. Junior Tim Barakett broke down on the right wing and wheeled in on Horn, beating the 5-ft., 8-in., freshman high.

The score put the Broncos down three goals in the series and took the momentum away from the resurgent visitors.

"That first goal was big one," Cleary said. "They didn't want to give up that one."

Western's little big man, 5-ft., 8-in. Dan Dorion, leading the nation in scoring with 101 points, got a pair of garbage goals in the second game, but he was never a factor in either contest.

The two games marked the Broncos first ever appearance in the 10-year Division I history of their program, and the Crimson gave them a Baptism of fire.

Under the Bright lights. NCAA Quarterfinal First Game

Crimson, 4-2 at Bright Center Western Michigan (32-11)  1  1  0--2 Harvard (23-7-1)  2  1  1--4

First Period--1, H, Lane MacDonald 19 (Scott Fusco, Tim Smith) :39:2, WMU, Jeff Crossman 13 (Troy Thrun) 4:18; 3, H, Smith 25 (Fusco, MacDonald) 17:47. Penalties--Jim Culhane, WMU, (roughing) 11:03; Steve Armstrong, H, (roughing) 11:03; Crossman, WMU, (roughing) 11:03.

Second Period--4, H, Allen Bourbeau 20 (Tim Barakett, Smith) 1:17; 5, H, Thrun 33 (Dan Dorion, Wayne Gagne) 9:53. Penalties--Bill Horn, WMU, (tripping) 5:21; Don Sweeney, H, (tripping) 8:51; Grant Blair, H, (high-sticking) 14:00.

Third Period--6, H, MacDonald 20 (Smith, Fusco) 9:45. Penalties--Bourbeau, H, (delay of game) 7:40; Crossman, WMU, (delay of game) 7:40; Stu Burnie, WMU, (cross-checking) 8:51; Bourbeau, H, (holding) 12:08.

Saves--WMU, Horn 8-16-9--33; H, Blair 6-11-10--27.

A--2321 NCAA Quarterfinal Second Game Crimson, 7-2 at Bright Center Western Michigan (32-12)  0  2  0--2 Harvard (24-7-1)  3  3  1--7

First Period--1, H, Tim Barakett 19 (Allen Bourbeau) 11:11;2, H, Scott Fusco 22 (l ane MacDonald, Tim Smith) 11:26; 3, 11, MacDonald 21 (Smith, Fusco) 15:31. Penalties--Grant Blair, H, (roughing) 9:03; Jim Crossman, WMU, (double minor roughing) 11:03; Crossman, WMU, (roughing) 11:03.

Second Period--4, H, Fusco 23 (MacDonald) 0:38; 5, WMU, Dorion 41 (Troy Thrun, Jeff Crossman) 7:58; 6, H, MacDonald 22 (Mark Benning, Randy Taylor) 11:37; 7, H, Ed Krayer 9 (Bourbeau, Barakett) 16:49;8, WMU, Dorian 42 (Wayne Gagne, Rob Adams). Penalties Pat Ryan, WMU, (hitting from behind) 3:29; Steve Armstrong, H, (tripping) 6:33; MacDonald, H, (interference) 9:47; Bourbeau, H, (roughing) 17:48; Stu Burnie, WMU, (roughing) 17:48.

Third Period--9, H, Fusco 24 (MacDonald, Jerry Pawloski) 8:35. Penalties Henry Fung, WMU, (slashing) 9:09; MacDonald, H, (slashing) 9:53.

Saves--WMU, Bill Horn 13-13-x--26; Kevin McCaffrey x-x-5--5; Grant Blair 16-14-13--43.

A--2259