#2 Icemen Await Second-Round Foe

So who would you rather play if you were the Harvard men's hockey team?

1) A team you have already faced three times this season--with two wins to show for your efforts, or

2)Someone you haven't faced since 1989, a team that has been in the news lately more because its arena is being torn down than for its successes in that rink?

Not that Harvard (23-4-4) has any say in whom it will face, as ECAC foe Rensselaer (21-10-4) will square off against Hokey East's University of New Hampshire (24-11-3) at 8:30 p.m. Friday night in an NCAA first-round match-up at Albany's Kinickerbocker Arena.

The victor will then try to knock off the Crimson Saturday at 8:30 p.m.

"It really doesn't matter," captain Sean McCann said. "We go out there and try to put out a solid effort every time."

In the Red corner, there is the East Region's sixth-seeded team, those same RPI Engineers that the Crimson bumped off in the ECAC tournament final this past Saturday, 3-0.

The Engineers started off the 1993-94 campaign playing very inconsistent hockey (6-5 in their first 11 games), but they then went on a nine-game unbeaten streak to straighten things out.

Much of the credit has to go to Hobey Baker candidate Neil Little, who be-Littled Harvard with a 45-save performance in RPI's 4-3 win on December 4 up at Troy, N.Y. The Engineers' solid streak began shortly thereafter.

However, Harvard took the next two meetings between the two squads. Little was true to his name in a 7-5 barnburner loss the Harvard at the Bright Hockey Center on February 25, and although he played very well in Saturday's ECAC Championship, his performance alone wasn't good enough to knock off Harvard.

"Little played as good a weekend as he had all year long," RPI Coach Buddy Powers said. "You just saw how good a team Harvard is."

The Engineers are led by captain Ron Pasco, who has scored 17 goals and racked up 40 assists in 35 games. But try as he might, Pasco couldn't get the rubber disk past Harvard goalie Aaron Israel Saturday night on any of his numerous scoring opportunities.

Forwards Bryan Richardson (23-29-52) and Craig Hamelin (19-29-48) have also been steady offensive supplies for RPI.

The defense, led by Little, has been stingy, allowing around three goals a game. The Engineers haven't allowed more than three goals against in their last four games, and they allowed four or more goals once during its nine-game unbeaten streak.

The RPI defense plays an aggressive style not only with its backcheck but also its after-the-whistle check, as Cam Cuthbert is known in these parts as one of the best in game at getting away with late hits.

On specialty teams, the power-play is operating at 25-percent, while the tenacious penalty-killing units have smothered 86-percent of its opponents' extra-man situations.

But for the Engineers to advance in their home town of Albany, they will need big performances from Little. First things first, RPI will have to take care of UNH before it can think about getting revenge against Harvard.

The Wildcats come into the NCAA tournament as the third-seeded team in the East Region.

Like RPI, UNH has had an up-and-down season, but unlike the Engineers, the Wildcats have struggled to the finish.

They started out with seven straight wins, but went only 17-11-3 over the rest of the stretch, and two of those wins ere forfeit victories over Maine.

Furthermore, the Wildcats dropped a Hockey East semifinal on Friday to the West's third-seeded team, UMass-Lowell, and could manage just a 4-4 tie in the consolation the next day against the West's fifth seed, Northeastern.

"We didn't do as well as we would have liked," UNH Coach Dick Umile said. "But [the NCAA's] is a great way for our team to end the season."

The Wildcats don't have too many standout players, but they have had a balanced scoring attack with 10 players racking up more than 20 points for the season. Eric Flinton leads the squad with 41 points (16 goals and 25 assists).

UNH also plays a very physical brand of hockey, sporting seven players who have accumulated over 40 minutes in penalties. Scott Malone set a single-season record for UNH with 154 minutes in the sin bin this year.

Schedule strength was pretty much what got the Wildcats the third seed. UNH defeated RPI, 6-3, up at Troy early in the season and has also defeated UMass-Lowell three times and the nation's number-one, Boston University, once.

"I think basically we've been playing well," Umile said. "We have a balanced team and a strong freshman class."

Now really, Harvard, who would you rather play?

"I don't have any preferences," senior forward Chris Baird said. "Whoever it's going to be, our coaches will have us prepared."

And with the way Harvard's defense has been playing of late--one goal allowed in 120 minutes against Brown and RPI last weekend--it probably shouldn't matter whom the Crimson will face.

Good defense and solid goaltending with games, especially come playoff time.

And Harvard has that in its six-man defensive force of McCann, seniors Derek Maguire and Lou Body, junior Bryan Lonsinger, sophomore Peter McLaughlin and freshman Ashlin Halfnight.

Throw in the inspired netminding of Israel and sophomore Tripp Tracy, and Harvard has a very good shot of going to the Final Four against either Michigan or the Lake Superior St./Northeastern victor.

"We are playing a pretty good brand of defense," Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "Our guys have been consistent from day one."

HARVARD STATISTICS PLAYER  GP  G  A  PT  PM Martins  30  24  32  56  93 Baird  30  5  37  42  18 Farrell  31  27  11  38  43 Maguire  29  6  31  37  14 McCann  31  20  16  36  80 Gustafson  29  21  10  31  28 Coughlin  31  1215  27  24 Body  31  1  19  20  14 Craigen  31  5  10  15  14 Nielsen  30  6  8  14  34 Holmes  30  5  9  1426 Karmanos  28  4  7  11  24 Halfnight  28  2  810  22 Cohagan  28  2  8  10  44 Kennish  27  2  5  7  6 McLaughlin  31  0  7  7  26 Lonsinger  31  1  5  6  14 Swenson  19  1  4  5  16 Ferrari  14  0  2  2  14 McLean  2  1  0  1  0 Philpott  8  1  0  1  8 Tracy  16  0  1  1  2 Wenham  2  0  0  0  0 Marret  5  0  0  0  4 Isreal  17  0  0  0  4 Team  GP  G  A  PT  PM   31  146  245  391  582 Opponents  GP  G  A  PT  PM   31  85  143  228  632 Goalies  W  L  T  GAA  S% Israel  12  1  2  2.26  .899 Tracy  11  3  2  3.14  .868 Team  31  4  4  2.69  .883 Opponents  4  23  4  4.63  . 864

RPI STATISTICS Player  GP  G  A  PT  PM Pasco  34  17  40  57  80 Richardson  35  23  29  52  46 Hamelin  35  19  29  48  18 Clarke  35  22  17  39  22 Brick  35  19  13  32  102 Askew  34  13  19  32  102 Team  35  172  287  459  809 opponents  35  114  187  301812 GOALIES  W  L  T  GAA  s% Tamburro  2  1  0  1.79  .917 Little  19  9  4  3.23  .897 Team  21  10  4  3.00  .899 opponents  10  21  4  4.87   .858

UNH STATISTICS PLAYER  GP  G  A  PT  PM Flinton  38  16  25  41  36 Poole  33  10  27  37  22 Boguntecki  38  17  16  33  62 Dexter  38  16  17  33  22 Stewart  38  14  13  32  48 Donovan  34  13  19  32  48 Team  38  156  236  392  776 opponents  38  130  204  334807 GOALIES  W  L  T  GAA  S% Cavicchi  13  6  1  2.97  .896 Heinke  11  5  2  3.53  .889 Team  24  11  3v3.53  .893 Opponent  11  24  3  3.89  . 875

RPI STATISTICS Player  GP  G  A  PT  PM Pasco  34  17  40  57  80 Richardson  35  23  29  52  46 Hamelin  35  19  29  48  18 Clarke  35  22  17  39  22 Brick  35  19  13  32  102 Askew  34  13  19  32  102 Team  35  172  287  459  809 opponents  35  114  187  301812 GOALIES  W  L  T  GAA  s% Tamburro  2  1  0  1.79  .917 Little  19  9  4  3.23  .897 Team  21  10  4  3.00  .899 opponents  10  21  4  4.87   .858

UNH STATISTICS PLAYER  GP  G  A  PT  PM Flinton  38  16  25  41  36 Poole  33  10  27  37  22 Boguntecki  38  17  16  33  62 Dexter  38  16  17  33  22 Stewart  38  14  13  32  48 Donovan  34  13  19  32  48 Team  38  156  236  392  776 opponents  38  130  204  334807 GOALIES  W  L  T  GAA  S% Cavicchi  13  6  1  2.97  .896 Heinke  11  5  2  3.53  .889 Team  24  11  3v3.53  .893 Opponent  11  24  3  3.89  . 875

UNH STATISTICS PLAYER  GP  G  A  PT  PM Flinton  38  16  25  41  36 Poole  33  10  27  37  22 Boguntecki  38  17  16  33  62 Dexter  38  16  17  33  22 Stewart  38  14  13  32  48 Donovan  34  13  19  32  48 Team  38  156  236  392  776 opponents  38  130  204  334807 GOALIES  W  L  T  GAA  S% Cavicchi  13  6  1  2.97  .896 Heinke  11  5  2  3.53  .889 Team  24  11  3v3.53  .893 Opponent  11  24  3  3.89  . 875