M. Hockey Hopes to Part Red C's

Before the season started, the Harvard men's ice hockey team set some goals for itself. Capture a Beanpot. Finish in the top three in the ECAC, preferably first. Qualify and make a strong run through the NCAA tournament.

The Beanpot heartbreak has been recounted ad nauseum. After last week's performances against Princeton and No. 5 Yale, first place is no longer an option. Cracking the top three looks increasingly like a longshot.

The NCAA tournament has to wait until March.

Entering this weekend's games against Colgate and Cornell at Bright Hockey Center, Harvard (8-13-2, 7-8-1 ECAC) finds itself locked in a three-way tie for sixth place. Five points separate the Crimson from third place, a team goal, and five points separate the team from eleventh place (and missing the playoffs), a team disaster.

In other words, the ECAC is a very tight division right now, further evidenced by the fact that just three points distinguish fifth place from ninth with three weekends left in the season.

"Right now," we are in the middle of the pile," said freshman defenseman Graham Morrell. "No one has the upper-hand. It is really important to win games as it is just as easy to go up as down."

As the regular season winds down, the Crimson at the very least want to break the top five. Those teams will own home ice for the first round of the ECAC playoffs.

Entering this weekend, only No. 5 Yale, who defeated Harvard 5-3 last Saturday, has home ice guaranteed. The Bulldogs have surprised everyone this year and need seven points to clinch first place in the ECAC and an automatic NCAA bid.

"Yale surprised everyone this year," Morrell said. "They are not the most talented team in the league, but they all play their system very well."

After Yale, the remaining four slots are officially up for grabs. Clarkson, with 22 points, seems secure in the top five. There is time for any team to vault past Colgate, RPI or Cornell.

The Crimson trail the Big Red, tomorrow's opponent, by just two points.

"Our goal of a top 3 finish in the league is a longshot," said senior forward Doug Sproule. "We hoped to finish a lot higher, but these games are in effect worth four points in the standings."

In order to win both games this week-end, Harvard will have to improve over its performances the past weekend. Intensity again was a key factor in the two losses as Harvard fell apart in the second period against Princeton and little mistakes undid them against Yale.

"This weekend was very disappointing," said freshman forward Steve Moore. "It was made more so because we didn't play well against Princeton and we could have been better against Yale."

Harvard will need to come out and play hard for 60 minutes for both games this weekend if it wants to pick up ground.

"Intensity has been a concern as far as I can remember," Sproule said. "We cannot afford lapses and win games."

Tonight, the Red Raiders will enter Bright looking to clinch a playoff berth on the strength of their two top snipers, junior forward Jed Whitchurch and sophomore forward Andy MacDonald, both in the top 10 for ECAC scoring. This tandem can exploit any defensive break-down as effectively as Princeton and Yale did against the Crimson last week.

The Big Red will go into the weekend having split its past four weekends while battling through severe injury problems. Cornell lacks one great offensive talent and Harvard can possibly exploit this combination to win.

"If we want to catch someone, we have to beat the leaders," Moore said. "We feel we have a great chance this weekend to beat both teams."

That will be crucial--beating both teams. With only six games remaining, Harvard has to start sweeping weekends and stringing wins together which it has failed to do all season.

For though it will almost certainly qualify for the playoffs, momentum may ultimately determine how far the Crimson advances.

"Our real focus is to leave everything on the ice," Morrell said. "We have to give 100 percent every night. If we consistently do this, we will start to peak at the right time for the playoffs."