M. Hockey, Surging No. 14 B.C. To Tangle Tonight

The Harvard men's hockey team has upset Boston College in each of the past two seasons. The trifecta, however, won't be quite so stunning.

The first-place Crimson (5-4-0, 5-3-0 ECAC) travels to the Conte Forum tonight to battle cross-town rival B.C. (7-5-0, 5-4-0 Hockey East). The Eagles had been mired in a four game losing streak before rebounding and defeating Northeastern and Merrimack.

Harvard, on the other hand, is coming off a 5-1 win over Union, which snapped a three-game losing streak of its own. The victory was good enough to leave the Crimson tied for first with Yale and No. 11 Colgate.

"We weren't panicking. We knew we were playing well after RPI," junior center Steve Moore said. "The Union win was a real confidence booster for the team."

The Crimson will try to lift its spirits even further against B.C. It is off to its best start in the past couple of years. Last season at this time, Harvard had yet to notch a conference victory.

Though the Eagles are ranked No. 14 in the USA Today poll, Harvard has received top-15 votes as well.

Boston College has the edge in firepower in this match-up. It boasts some of the best scorers in the nation. Senior forward Jeff Farkas (10 goals, 11 assists) ranks twelfth in the country. He is flanked by senior forward Blake Bellefeuille (5, 9) junior forward Brian Gionta (5, 8) and captain Mike Mottau (2, 13).

All of those snipers have more total points then Harvard's top scorer, freshman winger Brett Nowak (4, 6).

Despite B.C.'s offensive capabilities, the Crimson's defense really coalesced over the past weekend. It gave up just two even-strength goals on the weekend and kept a high-powered Engineer offense in check.

The forwards facilitated the improvement, redoubling its efforts to help the blueliners. In its best execution of the Mazzoleni system to date, they pressured the puck forcing quick decisions, and ultimately turnovers.

"Team defense has been stressed all year long," sophomore winger Jeff Stonehouse said. "Last weekend we made good strides in shutting down RPI and Union."

While the weekend addressed some defensive questions, Harvard still has a gaping offensive hole--the power play. The Crimson is two for its last 20 man advantages and three for its last 27.

Harvard has had a difficult time getting set-up in the offensive zone, especially with its second unit. The team's best stick handlers are its forwards, so Mazzoleni has tried to have them carry the puck through the neutral zone, but too often they have run out of options by the blueline.

Once the power play does get established in the offensive zone, the Crimson can whip the puck around the umbrella formation, but has struggled setting up the one final pass or getting the good deflection to light the lamp.

Mazzoleni reportedly has tinkered a bit, adding a few new wrinkles for the Eagles, but he has instructed the team to get back to basics.

"We have to get more shots on net," Moore said. "We've been experimenting with different alignments and different people. Coach has a few new options he can send out."

In addition to the power play, the Crimson would greatly benefit from junior center Steve Moore kicking it up another notch. Perhaps the team's most complete player, Moore has struggled in the early going, netting just one goal.

While he always contributes in other ways, Moore has only recently regained his menacing form.

"I haven't had so many goals," Moore said. "But I think the past three or four games I've been getting a lot of chances. As long as I keep getting them, I know they'll go in eventually."

Fellow junior sniper Chris Bala jumpstarted his game with two goals against Union. Bringing Moore into the fold would cement Harvard's two scoring lines and make it a much more dangerous offensive team.

Despite being a contest against a top-rival, this is a non-conference game so Mazzoleni has some room to experiment with new combinations and not jeopardize his team's ECAC standing.

Still, the Beanpot tournament is only a couple months away. Harvard wants to make a statement to its Boston foes.

Against the last Beantown rival it faced, the Crimson turned in one of its worst performances of the season, dropping 2-1 to No. 8 Boston University on Nov. 23.

"I think we definitely want to make a point to the other Boston teams that we're for real," Stonehouse said. "A win against B.C. says a lot about us."

Without a doubt Harvard wants to beat B.C., it just won't be such an upset this time.