Terriers Muffle Icemen, 5-1, in Beanpot Opener

The setting was the same, but the script-a bit cliché dramatically the Cindetella story left on a shelf to gather dust until the time again was right.

In the locker room where last year at this time the Harvard hockey team had grins 10 goals wide, where only one week form now a glowing Tommy Murray would quietly sit, a Pot on his lap and his teammates yelling and laughing around him, the Harvard hockey team sat silent.

On Monday night at the Boston Garden, before a not-yet-capacity crowed, the defending champion Harvard hockey team lost to a Boston University squad that did some pretty fancy defending of its own, 5-1 in the opening round of the 30th Beanpot.

And so, after two straight years of the member-four search--Northeastern in 80 and Harvard in 81--ending up member one, we have a Beanpot where anything that could have happened, didn't Boston College, the favorite going in, made the finals courtesy of a shimmering 3-2 overtime with over pristoltotin Northeastern. And Boston University, as hot as any team entering the tournament with a four-game unbeaten streak, will be there too.

The faces in the Harvard locker room told the whole story, each one adding a closing chapter to a tale of two Beanpots

There was a grim Wade Lau, who turned in a disappointing performance in the Harvard nests after being nearly All-world during last year's win. There was a frustrated Mark Fusco, the Boston-area native whose booming slapshot suffered the throes of a sprawling, hustling B.U. defense all game long. There was helpless Greg Olson, for whom the once friendly back of the net has gone for long stretches withough catching a puck off his stick.

At the start of the game it looked like the Beanpot would remain in Harvard's hands for at least another week.

An Alan Litchfield slapshot a little more than a minute into the game almost snuck past Terrier netminder Bob Barich, and only seconds later Greg Chalmers bounced two straight shots off Barich's pads. Three excellent opportunities and nary a red light a story of the offense of Harvard's past and, it would seem of Harvard's future as well.

When the first Teirier shot of the game went by Lau on the next run down the ice, already it looked like this was to be B.U.'s night. Open the door for these Terriers, much like the Terriers of Beanpot yore, and they would put a puck through it. Harvard, meanwhile, was still struggling to get the key in the hole.

Olson, suffering though the worst scoring drought of his hockey life ("I don't know what to say") missed from right in front several minutes later and form then on the B.U. defense huddled around and protected Barich, taking away Harvard's perimeter shooting, which, in turn killed the Harvard power-play.

"No, the defensemen don't usually block, that many shots." Terrier coach Jackie Parker said afterward. "Our defense covered very well in our own zone."

Said Harvard's Bill Cleary, "It was unbelievable. They were blocking shots like mad out there." And Fusco added: "They did a good job. There was a clog out front and the shots form the point just weren't there."

While the Harvard power-play fizzled (oh-for-six), B.U.'s continued to click (25 percent on the year), as the Terriers scored three goals with a man advantage.

The first came on a rocket shot form defenseman Bruce Milton at the point, at 8:29 of the opening stanza, only nine seconds after Harvard's Jim Turner went off for a hold B.U. took a 2-0 lead to the locker room.

Harvard got on the board at 7:04 of the second, when Greg Britz slid a centering pass to Tony Visone, who pushed the puck under Barich form point-blank to cut Terrier lead to 2-1.

Olson's troubles continued when after taking a breakaway pas form Fusco and streaking through two defenders his backhander hit the post behind Barich at about the 9:30 mark.

The Crimson wen a man down 12:43 (Chalmers form hooking) and again the B.U. power-play responded as leading scorer Tommy O'Regan swallowed up a big rebound off the pads of Lau and punched it into a wide-open left hand corner at 13:41. From then on, frustrated Harvard just ran out of steam.

Darling added his 15th and 16th goals of the season in the third period-the second on power play-for his first hat trick of the season, breaking the game wide open.