Icemen Thrash Brown, 5-2

With no one looking and every other team already preparing for Christmas break, the Harvard men's hockey team jumped into a three-way tie for second place in the ECAC last night with a 5-2 win over Brown.

In a third period which was its best period of the season bar none, the Crimson (4-5-1, 4-3-1 ECAC) exploded for three unanswered goals and walked away from Bright Hockey Center with its fourth win of the year and two crucial league points.

"It was a good win and every two points is important, especially with all the parity in the league," said Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni, whose team trails only No. 10 Yale and Princeton in the ECAC. "We took over in that third period and pulled away."

After six of its first seven games were decided by a single goal, Brown (2-8-0, 2-6-0) was obviously not prepared for Harvard's third-period breakout, which began at the 3:45 mark. And following the sporadic, choppy play in the first 40 minutes which led to a 2-2 deadlock, none of the 1,213 spectators were quite ready either.

Once freshman Steve Moore back-handed his third goal of the season past Brown goaltender Jeff Holowaty (37 saves) to push Harvard ahead 3-2, however, attitudes began to change.

For the next five minutes, the Crimson trapped the Bears in their own zone in relentless pursuit of a two-goal lead. Their persistence would pay off two minutes later when sophomore Matt Macleod collected a rebound from classmate Clayton Rodgers' shot and deposited his first goal of the season.

"We were right at the edge through-out the whole game," Moore said. "That third period just opened the floodgates for us."

Senior Henry Higdon solidified the lead--which by that time was not in doubt--on a power play with six minutes remaining in the game. Higdon's one-timer came off a tic-tac-toe play in which junior Craig Adams slid a beautiful pass across the zone to Higdon on the left post.

"We are a pretty confident bunch and we have a lot of confidence in our team," said junior Rob Millar. "We knew that it was going to come; it was just a matter of time."

Yet through two periods the outcome was still very much in question, despite the efforts of Adams.

Continuing his dominant play from this past weekend, which earned him a spot of the ECAC honor roll, Adams put the Crimson on the board first.

With less than a minute remaining in the first period, Adams stormed down the left wing and launched a wrister at Holowaty, who made a quick stick save. Adams fought through two more hits and finished the rush with a shovel shot which Holowaty couldn't handle.

"Adams' shift when he scored was the best shift that I have seen in a while," Tomassoni said. "He fought through so many hits and never gave up. I just can't emphasize enough how great that was."

Harvard killer Damian Prescott got the last word 42 seconds later. Of his six goals this season, Prescott has scored four against the Crimson.

The second stanza was a carbon copy. Millar deftly worked his way deep into the Brown zone to give Harvard a 2-1 lead, but Prescott countered with the equalizer. That left a third period to decide the outcome.

"It started between periods when we realized how long we would have to think about this game," said Millar, whose team will not play again until Dec. 18 at Northeastern. "We knew that we would be kicking ourselves for nine days if we didn't win so we just bore down."

And what ensued in that third period was nothing short of brilliance--at least in relative terms.

With such parity decorating the league this season it is easy to get caught in hyperbole, but there is no denying that Harvard was at the top of its game for 20 minutes last night. The question that remains is whether or not the Crimson will continue that play or regress to inconsistent hockey.

"Right now we need to get all 20 players going full out for the whole game," Millar said. "That's what good teams do and if we do that then we could play with teams like [No. 1 Boston University and Boston College]. We've done it at times, but that's not good enough."

Unfortunately for Harvard, it will not get a chance to test its luck against ECAC foes anytime soon. Following the Northeastern contest, Harvard heads out to Wisconsin for the Badger Christmas mas Tournament.

"It's kind of tough that after such a big win we have to wait nine days before we play again," Moore said. "We just need to keep the ball rolling and carry this into the game against Northeastern."   HARVARD  5   BROWN  2

HARVARD, 5-2 at Bright Hockey Center Brown  1  1  3  --  5 Harvard  1  1  0  --  2

First Period

Har--Adams (Moore) 18:10.

Bro--Prescott 19:28.

Second Period

Har--Millar (Conklin) 14:00.

Bro--Prescott (Andersson, Quinnell) 15:43. (PPG)

Third Period

Har--Moore (Adams, Bala) 3:45.

Har--MacLeod (Rodgers, Schwefel) 5:06.

Har--Higdon (Adams, Millar) 14:07. (PPG)

Saves: Bro--Holowaty 14-14-9 37; Har--Prestifilippo 6-9-9 24.

Power Play: Bro--1/7; Har--1/5.

Attendance: 1,213

HARVARD, 5-2 at Bright Hockey Center Brown  1  1  3  --  5 Harvard  1  1  0  --  2

First Period

Har--Adams (Moore) 18:10.

Bro--Prescott 19:28.

Second Period

Har--Millar (Conklin) 14:00.

Bro--Prescott (Andersson, Quinnell) 15:43. (PPG)

Third Period

Har--Moore (Adams, Bala) 3:45.

Har--MacLeod (Rodgers, Schwefel) 5:06.

Har--Higdon (Adams, Millar) 14:07. (PPG)

Saves: Bro--Holowaty 14-14-9 37; Har--Prestifilippo 6-9-9 24.

Power Play: Bro--1/7; Har--1/5.

Attendance: 1,213

First Period

Har--Adams (Moore) 18:10.

Bro--Prescott 19:28.

Second Period

Har--Millar (Conklin) 14:00.

Bro--Prescott (Andersson, Quinnell) 15:43. (PPG)

Third Period

Har--Moore (Adams, Bala) 3:45.

Har--MacLeod (Rodgers, Schwefel) 5:06.

Har--Higdon (Adams, Millar) 14:07. (PPG)

Saves: Bro--Holowaty 14-14-9 37; Har--Prestifilippo 6-9-9 24.

Power Play: Bro--1/7; Har--1/5.

Attendance: 1,213