Eagles Soar Above Crimson Icemen

BOSTON--Harvard's opening round Beanpot match against Boston College turned out to be the high-scoring, heavyweight bout no one thought would occur. B.C  7 Harvard  6

When the dust finally cleared, Harvard had suffered too many blows to the head, dropping a 7-6 decision to the Eagles.

Down 4-0, 5-1, 6-3 and 7-4 (the Crimson never had a lead in the game), Harvard continued to battle back from unheard-of odds, even after the sold-out Boston Garden crowd of 14,448 had begun to filter out starting at the end of the first period.

"It was a crazy game," Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "On many occasions we could've quit after battling back, but we never did."

"B.C. did a good job all night of capitalizing on our mistakes, but we showed a lot of character coming back like we did," captain Ben Coughlin said.

Those mistakes repeatedly hounded Harvard, especially in a disastrous first period. Boston College only needed one shot to get on the board, coming nearly five minutes in.

Eagle forward Michael McCarthy flipped the puck over a sprawled Tripp Tracy, as the netminder tried to tip the puck away, and B.C. was off and running.

Two minutes later, on what would be the Eagles' third shot of the game, captain Ryan Haggarty corralled a long pass from Peter Masters and deked out Tracy for the 2-0 Boston College lead.

In a repeat performance of this past weekend's miscues, another giveaway in Harvard's defensive zone allowed Don Chase to increase the B.C. lead to 3-0. Chase's first attempt was thwarted, but the junior curled around the net to flip home the loose puck.

Harvard's nightmare was not over.

With 1:15 left in the first stanza, defenseman Greg Callahan received and tipped a cross-ice pass into the back of the net right after a face-off to puthis team up, 4-0.

Harvard could only generate one shot over thefinal 13 minutes of the first period on lastyear's Beanpot MVP--Eagle goalie Greg Taylor--andBC converted four of 10.

"We made four big boo-boos, and theycapitalized on all of them," Tomassoni said.

The Crimson seemed down for the count, and manyB.U. and North-eastern fans headed for the exits.But as chapters of a book can be quite dissimilar,the second period was a much different story.

Still, the missed opportunities weredevastating for the Crimson from then on: a coupleof flubbed open-net shots and three failedbreakaways all appeared to contribute to thefar-too-early departures of the Boston Gardenfaithful.Boston College, 7-6 at Boston Garden

B.C.  4  1  2  --7Harvard  0  3  3  --6

First Period

B.C.--McCarthy 3 (Laferriere, G. Callahan)4:23.

B.C.--Haggerty 19 (Masters) 6:39

B.C.--Chase 13 (Hymovitz) 11:24

B.C.--B. Callahan 8 (Masters, Buckley) 18:45.

Second Period

Har--Nielsen 11 (McLaughlin, Martins) 15:24.(SH)

BC--B. Callahan 9 (Canavan) 15:38.

Har--Gustafson 7(Lonsinger, Holmes) 17:38. (PP)

Har--Coughlin 2 (Sproule, Gustafson) 18:45.(PP)

Third Period

B.C.--Chase 14 2:37.

Har--Martins 9 (Higdon) 4:28

B.C.--Hymovitz 19 (Haggerty) 10:18.

Har--Karmanos 5 (Halfnight, Lonsigner) 13:30.

Har--Martins 10 (Coughlin) 16:52.

Saves: B.C.--Taylor 6-15-6 27;Har--Tracy 6-3-8 17.

Power Play: B.C.--0 for 4; Har--2 for 8.

Attendance:14, 448

The first 15 minutes of the period were markedby sloppy play by both teams. B.C. could not firea shot on net until 14 minutes had passed in thestanza, while Tomassoni even occasionally usedfive forwards to kindle some scoring punch on thepower play.

Then the fireworks started.

A shorthanded goal by junior Kirk Nielsenbrought the score to 4-1, but a Eagle rebound only12 seconds later increased the lead to 5-1.

However, the ghosts of the Garden smiled on theCrimson for once last night, as Harvard wasblessed with a five-on-three opportunity withthree minutes left in the period.

The Crimson cashed in twice before the periodwas over, with goals from senior Cory Gustafsonand Coughlin to trim the deficit to 5-3.

Harvard peppered Taylor with 18 shots in theperiod, while the Eagles could only muster four onTracy.

But just what Harvard team would show up forthe third period?

As it turned out, the mistakes continued tomount, and they were too much for the Crimson toovercome. Another giveaway early in the stanzaledto a 6-3 Eagle lead, while a Steve Martinsslapshot from 10 feet out brought the game onceagain to a two-goal margin.

With under 10 minutes left in the contest,Eagle David Hymovitz's goal seemed to put the gameout of reach once again, this time at 7-4.

But just as Freddy Krueger from the grave, asRocky Balboa from the mat, Harvard did not gogently into that good night. With 6:30 left,junior Jason Karmanos clipped the lead once againto two.

Harvard still had one more punch in it. Martinsgarnered his second goal of the night with 3:08remaining. The senior took a pass from a divingCoughlin to pull the Crimson within strikingdistance, at 7-6.

But as the clock literally struck midnight,Harvard's silver carriage turned back into apumpkin, and the Crimson could not penetrateTaylor one final time. Even as the final secondsticked off, the Crimson was knocking on the door,but the dance was over.

"I think we played three solid periods but itwas just a matter of them scoring too many goals,"Martins said. "But we showed a lot of heart tocome back."

"We really thought we had this gamebut...unfortunately the bounces went the otherway," he said.CrimsonE. Houston WuBoston College goaltender GREG TAYLORrebuffs the Crimson at Boston Garden lastnight.

Harvard could only generate one shot over thefinal 13 minutes of the first period on lastyear's Beanpot MVP--Eagle goalie Greg Taylor--andBC converted four of 10.

"We made four big boo-boos, and theycapitalized on all of them," Tomassoni said.

The Crimson seemed down for the count, and manyB.U. and North-eastern fans headed for the exits.But as chapters of a book can be quite dissimilar,the second period was a much different story.

Still, the missed opportunities weredevastating for the Crimson from then on: a coupleof flubbed open-net shots and three failedbreakaways all appeared to contribute to thefar-too-early departures of the Boston Gardenfaithful.Boston College, 7-6 at Boston Garden

B.C.  4  1  2  --7Harvard  0  3  3  --6

First Period

B.C.--McCarthy 3 (Laferriere, G. Callahan)4:23.

B.C.--Haggerty 19 (Masters) 6:39

B.C.--Chase 13 (Hymovitz) 11:24

B.C.--B. Callahan 8 (Masters, Buckley) 18:45.

Second Period

Har--Nielsen 11 (McLaughlin, Martins) 15:24.(SH)

BC--B. Callahan 9 (Canavan) 15:38.

Har--Gustafson 7(Lonsinger, Holmes) 17:38. (PP)

Har--Coughlin 2 (Sproule, Gustafson) 18:45.(PP)

Third Period

B.C.--Chase 14 2:37.

Har--Martins 9 (Higdon) 4:28

B.C.--Hymovitz 19 (Haggerty) 10:18.

Har--Karmanos 5 (Halfnight, Lonsigner) 13:30.

Har--Martins 10 (Coughlin) 16:52.

Saves: B.C.--Taylor 6-15-6 27;Har--Tracy 6-3-8 17.

Power Play: B.C.--0 for 4; Har--2 for 8.

Attendance:14, 448

The first 15 minutes of the period were markedby sloppy play by both teams. B.C. could not firea shot on net until 14 minutes had passed in thestanza, while Tomassoni even occasionally usedfive forwards to kindle some scoring punch on thepower play.

Then the fireworks started.

A shorthanded goal by junior Kirk Nielsenbrought the score to 4-1, but a Eagle rebound only12 seconds later increased the lead to 5-1.

However, the ghosts of the Garden smiled on theCrimson for once last night, as Harvard wasblessed with a five-on-three opportunity withthree minutes left in the period.

The Crimson cashed in twice before the periodwas over, with goals from senior Cory Gustafsonand Coughlin to trim the deficit to 5-3.

Harvard peppered Taylor with 18 shots in theperiod, while the Eagles could only muster four onTracy.

But just what Harvard team would show up forthe third period?

As it turned out, the mistakes continued tomount, and they were too much for the Crimson toovercome. Another giveaway early in the stanzaledto a 6-3 Eagle lead, while a Steve Martinsslapshot from 10 feet out brought the game onceagain to a two-goal margin.

With under 10 minutes left in the contest,Eagle David Hymovitz's goal seemed to put the gameout of reach once again, this time at 7-4.

But just as Freddy Krueger from the grave, asRocky Balboa from the mat, Harvard did not gogently into that good night. With 6:30 left,junior Jason Karmanos clipped the lead once againto two.

Harvard still had one more punch in it. Martinsgarnered his second goal of the night with 3:08remaining. The senior took a pass from a divingCoughlin to pull the Crimson within strikingdistance, at 7-6.

But as the clock literally struck midnight,Harvard's silver carriage turned back into apumpkin, and the Crimson could not penetrateTaylor one final time. Even as the final secondsticked off, the Crimson was knocking on the door,but the dance was over.

"I think we played three solid periods but itwas just a matter of them scoring too many goals,"Martins said. "But we showed a lot of heart tocome back."

"We really thought we had this gamebut...unfortunately the bounces went the otherway," he said.CrimsonE. Houston WuBoston College goaltender GREG TAYLORrebuffs the Crimson at Boston Garden lastnight.