An Old, Familiar Feeling

"Panic" was never the word, but "confusion" could have been.

With Harvard hockey mired in a 1-2 start--the one win anything but decisive--questions had to be asked. What was the difference between the Crimson of this year's first three games and the ECAC champions of last year's 33?

The answer is amazingly simple. But it took a good opening 40 minutes of solid Harvard hockey last night against Cornell to remind Bright Hockey Center what that answer is: team defense.

How many times was it said last year that you win with defense? Scoring comes and goes, but defensive fundamentals should not. With Messrs. McCann, Maguire and Body patrolling the blue line, the fact that the Crimson would easily outshoot its opponents was taken for granted.

They are gone, we know that, as all seniors eventually must fade from the bench. But last night's performance was the first time that this year's blueliners announced their intention to wave the Harvard banner of defensive supremacy with all the authority of those that went before them, and you can't downplay the significance of such a statement.

"I think this was a breakthrough night for this team," junior Peter McLaughlin said. "It was our first good game as a [defensive] unit--our communication was outstanding, and once we get going, we won't stop for anyone."

"It was the best effort defensively on the year by far," echoed Crimson Coach Ronn Tomassoni. "Before this week, the defense we want out there hadn't practiced or played together, and our inexperience showed. But tonight we played three good periods of hockey."

No kidding; through two periods, Cornell had six shots on goal.

Six. S-I-X. Sixteen fewer than Harvard after 40 minutes.

That number is scury good, actually too good for Tripp Tracy's liking. Frozen out of the flow of play, he gets antsy--"I'd almost rather face an even distribution of ten shots a period," he said.

When was the last time you saw a goalie record a .000 save percentage for an entire period? It happened last night, because Tracy faced two tough chances in the second period and "got overly aggressive," in his words, on each of them, which is what happens when you try to stamp your imprint on a game that has been played entirely in the other end of the ice.

"Sometimes, you have mental lapses when you're working that hard, but we were beating [Cornell] to all the loose pucks tonight, and we had been having problems letting people go."

They screwed up twice, but they fought hard for 60 minutes. Forwards getting back into their defensive zone to block shots, defensemen standing the other guy up at the blue-line and not letting him in, hard checks signed, sealed and delivered in all areas of the ice...only tonight did the Harvard defense we know and love appear for the first time.

Cornell finally generated some meaningful offense in the third period, but that only brought Tracy's latent sharpness into focus. And the Crimson skated into the sunset as "D-serving" winners of a well-played 4-2 hockey game.

At home for the first time, Harvard looked much like it did last year: cocky, poised, pleased with its victory, but ready to move on to bigger and better things.

And that sense of superiority can only come from the defense. If it builds an impregnable wall at the blue line every night this season, the wins will come, no questions asked.