Ingalls Rink: A Little House of Horrors

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--Invincibility skated onto thin ice with 18 minutes left in last night's Harvard-Yale hockey game.

Fifteen minutes later, it fell through.

Entering the final period at Ingalls rink, Harvard--the nation's number-one ranked team and the owner of a 15-0 record entering the contest--clung to a 2-1 lead over the Bulldogs.

But Yale Captain Adam Snow's goal at 3:28 of the third period tied the game. And Dave Tanner's goal with two minutes left all but ended it.

Bob Kudelski flung a shot into a barren Harvard net with 25 seconds remaining to give Yale a 4-2 victory.

Suddenly, the Crimson wasn't invincible.

A 15-game winning streak had ended. The best Harvard start of all time was over.

The crowd knew it.

After Snow's goal, the 3200 spectators leapt to their feet and cheered madly. Shouts of "Sieve, sieve" fell upon Crimson goalie Dickie McEvoy.

After Tanner's goal, the cheers grew louder. So did the taunts.

In the end, after the final Yale goal, flags were waved, feet were stomped and Yale players were mauling each other near mid-ice. Fans reached over the boards to grab a piece of Kudelski or any Bulldog they could get their hands on.

Invincibility was dead. For Yale, all was joyous.

Because of the loss, Harvard fell a notch in the ECAC standings. The Crimson is now 13-1 in the league and remains in first place. Yale, in second place, is 7-2. Some other teams have six wins. A few more have five.

Invincibility may be over for Harvard. But not greatness.

Harvard will get a long time to mull over this loss. The team goes into exams now and will not see action until February 2.

"At the beginning of the season, if someone had told me we would be 13-1 at the break, I would have taken it," Harvard Coach Bill Cleary said.

When the Crimson's season resumes it will have eight league game left to play--six of them at home.

The hard part of the season is over. By and by, last night will be forgotten.

"We're not invincible," Harvard forward Ed Krayer said. "On any given night, we can lose. But I don't think there was any doubt--on either side--about who was the better team tonight. Maybe this will just make us a little hungrier the next time."

Ingalls Rink has always been a house of dearth for Harvard. In its last eight games at Ingalls, the Crimson is 0-6-2.

"It's a pit," Yale Coach Tim Taylor said. "It's supposed to be a pit."

The rink comes equipped with wild--and sometimes rude-fans.

"The crowd was loud," Crimson Captain Peter Chiarelli said. "And they were spitting on us."

Last year the Crimson opened its season in Ingalls and lost, 7-5. This year the Crimson had the pleasure of waiting out--and winning--15 games before it came back.

But last night, Harvard had to return. Invincibility was due for another test. And Ingalls was ready.

"The streak had to end sometime," Chiarelli said. "Last year we lost our first game. This year, we lost our 16th. We'll come back."