Nothing Going Right for Losing Icemen

"It's gotta turn, it's gotta turn," said Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni in what has turned from an exasperated sigh at the beginning of the season into a post-game chant/prayer.

At this point, having lost nine of its 11 one-goal games, the only solution for Harvard might be to perform some kind of ritualistic sacrifice before the game and follow that with a tribal war dance. Considering the dominating play by the Crimson in some of its close losses, one cannot help but wonder whether this season was just simply not meant to be.

"As I'm addressing my team in the locker room [after the game]," Tomassoni said, "a helmet falls off and hits Craig Adams on the head. That just typifies [our season]; things just don't want to happen for us."

Not Just Bad Luck

While there may indeed be a jinx on the men's hockey team this season, the Crimson is still committing some fundamental errors that are costing it garbage goals. After bombarding St. Lawrence goalie Clint Owen in a furious offensive assault for most of the second period, the Crimson gave up its fourth goal on a two-on-one defensive blunder.

Saint right wing Scott Stevens drew goalie Tripp Tracy and a Crimson defender toward him on the right wing. He then fed a wide-open Scott Murphy, who should have been covered by that defenseman, on the other side of the net, and Murphy flipped the puck in for an easy goal.

Senior Soiree?

Saturday night's game was special for the seniors since it was their final contest at Bright Hockey Center, and all the right ingredients were there: close to 3,000 fans, the Harvard Band in all its glory and the Crimson cheer-leading section in rare form.

The seniors did not disappoint, giving one of the most inspired, exciting performances of the season.

Surprisingly, captain Brad Konik's goal was the first goal the team's leading goal scorer has notched since December 8, 1995 at St. Lawrence. It also marked the first time Harvard scored the first goal in a game since the Union contest on February 3--which was also Harvard's last win, a 6-0 blanking.

At 3:43 into the first period, Konik caught a head-man pass from fellow senior veteran Kirk Nielsen and laced the puck in to make the score 1-0.

Yes, it was definitely senior night as Nielsen scored the Crimson's second goal right off the face-off on a rocketing slap shot that made The Rocket's fastball look like a whiffleball. It was also Nielsen's first goal in a long time--he scored twice against New Hampshire on December 30.

And who recorded the assist on Nielsen's tally? No one else but Konik himself. When the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, Konik had totaled one goal and one assist, Nielsen had one goal and two assists, and seniors Tommy Holmes and Jason Karmanos each recorded an assist.

"Going into the third period in the little huddle by the net, I told the guys that we were going to have to put forth the biggest effort of the year in the period in order to come back, and basically, I think we did," Konik said. "I think we worked as hard as we have all year in that period... The seniors naturally feel that they need to go out and finish with a good third period."

But the season is not over, and with the way the Crimson played Saturday, there may be more than just hope left.

"You know I've always said that the season is a marathon. It's not how you start; it's how you finish," Tomassoni said.