Hockey Team Drops Match To B.C., 3-2

Harvard probably has the best last-five-minute hockey team in the East. Another superhuman effort Friday night netted the two tying goals against Boston College just 46 seconds apart, but Eagle Jack Cusack's 20-foot slap shot at 6:33 of the sudden death period sent the Crimson home with a 3-2 defeat. The junior varsity and freshman teams were defeated by 5-3 and 3-0 scores, respectively.

In an easy match Saturday night at Watson Rink the varsity routed Cornell by an 18-0 count, "clinching" matters with an 11-goal outburst in the third period. Bud Higginbottom led the scorers with five goals and an assist, while Dick Fischer had a hat trick and three assists.

Record Suffers

The two games set the varsity's record back to 5-3-2, which means that only by a minor Act of God can it hope to overhaul either B.C. or Clarkson in the Eastern standings. The team has little to be ashamed of, however, for it turned in a creditable performance against a good Eagle team, with a fine goalie and two excellent defensemen.

One charge that can be levied at the varsity defense was that of sloppy play at the points and occasional loose action around the crease. In fact, on a third period goal Eagle center Jack Cusack gained such good position that he appeared to be half a foot inside the crease. In spite of goalie Harry Pratt's protest the score was allowed.

Before the game was a minute and a half old the Crimson was trailing by a goal. Eagle speedster Ron Walsh capitalized on a tactic he used all evening, skating hard down the left alley and behind the nets, then centering to his center or wing. In this case he found Bill Daley waiting in front, and a 20-foot slap shot eluded Pratt.

Rushing Develops

Surviving a penalty at the beginning of the third period, the varsity began to generate a number of rushes on the B.C. cage. A couple of centers by Crocker Snow went across goal-mouth, but the score remained 1 to 0 until Cusack's disputed goal at 11:14.

After the Crimson had frittered away a B.C. tripping penalty with two mistakes at the points, Bud Higginbottom tallied his eighth goal of the season at 15:42, stabbing Dave Vietze's center into the right hand corner of the cage from close range.

Sensing it could tie the game, or even win, the varsity put on one of its ferocious last-minute attacks, hustling all over the ice and forcing play in the Eagle zone. From a wild melee in front of the nets Bob Anderson pushed a rebound from Greg Downes with tantalizing slowness past out-of-position Jim Logue. It was the ninth time in the last six games that the Crimson has scored during the last five minutes of play, compared to 14 goals scored during the first 55 minutes.

After a good Harvard rush at the two and a half minute mark another miscue at the point led to an Eagle rush which nearly ended matters. Then, at 6:33 of the sudden death period, the B.C. second line rushed again. The Crimson appeared to be in control of the puck and attempting to clear it from behind and to the left of the nets. Cusack intercepted the disk 15 feet in front and fired a low back-hander into the left corner of the cage to end matters.

The Crimson could have won the game even without the goal-tending of Harry Pratt and of Tab Cleary, who played the last two periods. Between them they turned away nine shots, most of them long dribbling thrusts from behind the blue line.

During the last period, in an effort either to keep the score down or increase the versatility of his players, Coach Cooney Weiland had his defensemen playing forward and his wings on defense. This plan failed, however, as defensemen Bill DeFord, Dick McLaughlin and Greg Downes exploded for three goals in two and a half minutes.

Tonight the varsity may be on the short end of a somewhat similar score as it tackles the Russian amateur team at the Boston Garden. The Soviets have won four games and tied one against the United States amateur team and mid-western college sextets