Icemen Emerge, Overcome RPI

TROY, N.Y.--Maybe the term 'home-ice advantage' should be scrapped from the lingo used for games involving the Harvard men's hockey team.

After having lost three of four games at home, Harvard (13-11-1, 11-7-1 ECAC) came out on fire last night at Houston Field House, defeating Rensselaer (15-12-2, 9-8-2) by a 5-3 count. Harvard  5 RPI  3

The Crimson burned the overly feisty and aggressive Engineers for three power play goals in the first period to jump out to a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Harvard then played well enough to thwart RPI's several comeback attempts, avenging a heartbreaking 4-3 loss earlier this season. The win solidified Harvard's hold on third place in the ECAC and snapped its three-game losing streak.

"The guys had a great week in practice," Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni--an RPI graduate himself--said. "We just got a real solid effort from everybody."

The game was a fierce, hard-hitting affair from the opening faceoff, but the Engineers played a little bit too rough, and the Crimson made them pay three times in the opening stanza which Harvard completely dominated.

Harvard pretty much did everything right--skating, forechecking, discipline, and defense, holding the Engineers without a shot on goal for the first 11:43.

Senior Steve Martins typified the effort. Martins got on RPI's nerves, causing an Engineer to whack him in the face with his stick, giving the Crimson a two-man advantage at the point.

Martins got sweet revenge when he rushed up to the right of RPI goalie Mike Tamburro and roofed a shot over the goalie 9:06 into the game to give Harvard a 1-0 lead.

"We have been going through a goal scoring slump, and to get that first goal was a real boost," Tomassoni said.

RPI committed boneheaded plays numbers two and three from rough stuff, and Harvard converted each time on the ensuing power play.

First Martins rebounded home a point shot from captain Ben Coughlin and 1:36 later, senior Bryan Lonsinger fired a point shot past Tamburro to give the Crimson a 3-0 lead before 4280 stunned Engineer fans.

"The power play worked well tonight," Martins said. "The power play was working well the past couple of games, but we weren't getting any breaks."

Harvard also lacked a few breaks that would have put the game away early. Freshman Henry Higdon's apparent goal only seconds after Lonsinger's tally was waved off because he had directed it in with his skate. Brad Konik hit the crossbar in the second.

Harvard's failure to put the game away and its steady progression into the penalty box in the second period (Harvard was shorthanded four straight times) allowed RPI to get back into the game. RPI scored on a two-man advantage midway through the second but Harvard's solid defensive effort by everybody, especially the six defensemen, Coughlin and senior forward Perry Cohagan, prevented further damage.

"I would like to give credit to the entire defensive corps," junior Peter McLaughlin said. "We moved the puck up ice and did the simple things right."

Senior Cory Gustafson reestablished Harvard's three-goal lead 6:07 into the third when he blasted a slapshot by Tamburro on a breakaway set up by a beautiful lead pass by Martins. However RPI never died, scoring two goals, the latter with 2:13 to go, cutting the lead to 4-3.

RPI pulled Tamburro for an extra skater, but couldn't mount much pressure on junior goalie Tripp Tracy. Gustafson iced the win with a longrange empty-net goal with six ticks left.

"We gave them a couple of chances but for the most part, we played an all-around game," Martins said.

At 4:00 p.m. this afternoon Harvard will square off against Union (8-13-4, 5-10-4), who tied Brown 2-2 last night, in Schenectady.

With its win, the Crimson is very much back in the ECAC race, and it now needs two wins or Vermont and Colgate losses to clinch a quarterfinal match at home. With Clarkson losing to Vermont last night, and Brown's tie, the Crimson is only two points behind the Golden Knights and three points behind the Bears.

The ECAC title is still very much up for grabs.

"In this wacky, crazy ECAC, who knows where you're going to be today?" Tomassoni said. "We showed a lot of character; it was a big win for us." HARVARD, 5-3 at Houston Field House Harvard  3  0  2  --  5 RPI  0  1  2  --  3

First Period

Har--Martins (Coughlin, Lonsinger) 9:06, (PP).

Har--Martins (Cohagan, Coughlin) 13:12, (PP).

Har--Lonsinger (Cohagan, Coughlin) 14:48 (PP).

Second Period

RPI--Rochon (Bartell, Regan) 10:34 (PP).

Third Period

Har--Gustafson (Martins, Craigen) 6:07.

RPI--Richardson (Regan, Rochon) 8:02) (PP).

RPI--Richardson (O'Connor, Bartell) 17:47.

Har--Gustafson (Martins, Halfnight) 19:54, (EN).

Saves: Har--Tracy 6-8-6 20; RPI--Tamburro 14-9-11 34.

Power Play: H 3-10, RPI 2-11.