Harvard Takes Watson Thriller From Yale, 3-2

Yes, miracles really can happen Well, almost.

In what was the wildest finish to be seen in a game at Watson Rink in a long time, the Harvard hockey team escaped with its collective neck and its number one ECAC ranking, with a come from behind 3-2 victory over Yale Saturday night.

Crimson hockey fans witnessed two separate games. The first 56:48 consisted of the most tedious and sloppiest hockey that Harvard has played all year. The final 3:12 saw an incredible Crimson charge that overcame a 2-0 deflict to snatch away from an inspired Eh squad what would have been the biggest upset in the ECAC this year.

The contest was scoreless for three-quarters of the opening period as everyone in the arena, both Harvard and Yale fans, were awaiting the inevitable Crimson eruption that would send Harvard on its way to a victory that would certainly be even more of a rout than the Crimson's 8-3 pasting of Yale in December at the Great Lakes Tournament.

Yale Lead

But things didn't quite follow anybody's pre-game expectations. At 14-17 of the first stanza, the Bulldogs' Frank Paveck gave Yale a 1-0 lead. Paveck pulled around Harvard defenseman Eddie Rosst and goalie Brian Petrovek committed himself, diving out headlong 15 feet in an attempt to knock the puck off Paveck's stick Petro missed, and Paveck backhanded the disc into the open net.

Harvard fans looked on the goal as a potential blessing, thinking the Ell tally might have a reverse psychological effect and arouse the Crimson from its heretofore lethargic play.

But by the end of the second period, the Blue's 1-0 advantage was still standing. Usually, when a team that is as clearly interior to another team as Yale was to Harvard is beating the superior team, one can expect that the reason might be because of a stellar individual effort (such as a great performance by a goaltender).

But Saturday night, It was a case of the whole Blue team just out-performing and carrying the play to the Crimson. By the end of two periods Yale had outshot Harvard by an 18-15 margin. Only some super saves by Petrovek in the second period kept the Elis from running away with the contest. The Bulldogs were definitely playing above their 1-18-1 heads, while Harvard resembled anything but an 18-3 team.

At 9:36 of the third period the Blue's Don Lewis took a slapshot from the point that was deflected en route to the net, and Yale moved out to a 2-0 lead, to the sheer delight of the large Eli contingent of students and alumni. Petrovek had no chance on the goal. By now all realized that the impossible just might happen-a Yale win.

Finally, the spiritless Crimson came to life. Harvard began throwing its weight around and pressing in the Yale zone. At 16:48 Kevin Carr put one past Yale goalie Gerry Stenson to pull Harvard within one. Eddie Rossi set up the play by chasing the puck deep into the Bulldog corner and feeding a pass to Carr, who slid it home from 20 feet out.

Yale Panics

The crowd, which had been enthusiastic all night, a pleasant contrast to the usually blase Watson crowds, was on its feet and chanting for more. Yale was panicking and Harvard kept up the pressure.

The big break for the Crimson came at 17:16 when the Blue's Keith Miller was called for tripping at 17:16, and the Harvard power play unit, which had been unsuccessful in five previous tries, came out onto the ice. After about a minute of futility, and with a faceoff in the Yale zone. Crimson coach Bill Clearly made a daring move and pulled Petrovek in favor of a sixth skater, Leigh Hogan, giving the Crimson a 6-on-4 advantage with 1:12 to go. The gamble paid off, as ten seconds later, in one of those mad scrambles for the puck involving six or so players in front of the net, Hogan lifted out a backhand shot that tied the score.

The crowd exploded into a state of frenzy, and it was clear that the Bulldogs had completely collapsed and were fighting just to get the game into overtime. With 21 seconds left in the game big wing Dave Gauthier, in a superb solo effort, stickhandled around two Eli defenders and sent a backhander from 15 feet that broke off Stenson's glove for the winning goal.

Watson went into a state of pan demonium as the already frenetic fans went delirious and the whole Harvard bench erupted out onto the ice and swarmed Gauthier. The Yale bench on the other hand, was the most dejected group of athletes seen around here since the '68 Harvard Yale football game, as all of the Elis were motonless and a few were visibly crying.

"This game was the whole season to them," a Bulldog bystander said after the game in the morgue-like Yale locker room.

Harvard could do nothing right before those final few minutes. The Crimson attack was impotent. Harvard couldn't complete even the simplest of passes. The puck was bouncing over, behind, ahead, and anywhere but onto, a Harvard stick. The Crimson was clearly taking Yale too flightly.

PUCKING AROUND-The win clinched for Harvard a second straight outright Ivy title. Harvard is now 10-0 in league play, and is shooting for its first perfect Ivy season since 1957, Defenseman, Eddie Rossi set two Harvard records for defensemen with his two assists in he game. Rossi now holds the records for most assists in a season (227) and points in a season(30). The old records were 25 and 30 respectively. Yale goalie Stenson, a surprise starter, was impressive, stopping 25 shots, including a couple of gems off Gauthier and Dan Bolduc... Petrovek lowered his ECAC leading average to 2.42, Randy Roth raised his team-leading point total to 40 with an assist on the tying goal. Rendy now has a career total of 132, placing him sixth on the all-time Harvard list.