Icemen Romp, 8-4

It all happened just when you were about to call the Harvard hockey team "overmatched" and George Hughes "overrated," and it happened with the kind of swashbuckling dominance you had patiently longed for.

Harvard's decisive 8-4 win over the highly-regarded New Hampshire at Walter Brown Arena last night was mere off-Broadway compared to the virtuoso performance of Hughes in the second period. The super-cool forward limboed by hapless defensemen for four goals in the second and turned a 3-0 score into a full-fledged 7-1 shocker with one stanza remaining (see story below).

After two years and six games of being referred to as "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot on Goal Straight," the Crimson popped for three goals in the first period, and seemed determined to throw off the shackles of frustration.

Twenty-five seconds had elapsed in the game when defense-god Jack Hughes's slapshot embroidered the puck in the lower left corner behind Wildcat goalie Greg Moffett.

Goal-hungry and victory-famished, the icemen impressively scratched for their next two goals Bob McDonald, reinstated after being benched against Brown, drag bunted the rebound of a John Dunderdale shot in at 11:30 to make it 2-0. Moffett appeared to have gloved Dunder's attempt, but the puck squirted out waist-high and McDonald was positioned perfectly in the batter's box.

Though Jon Garrity polished off a two-on-one break with Randy Millen for the third goal at 16:20, it was center Steve Andrews who made the key play here. Andrews dragged four men into the UNH zone, then shoveled the puck down the right boards for Millen, who hit Garrity at the left face-off circle.

The Crimson rained shots on Wildcat netminder Greg Moffett in the first two frames, and displayed practical knowledge and application of passing, forechecking, and shot deflection while making the notion of a third-period comeback obsolete.

The Wildcats did manage to outscore the icemen in the third 3-1, but virtually all of their goals could have been stopped. Starting goaltender Wade Lau let a slapshot trickle through his pads late in the second for the first UNH goal, then fell prey to Wildcat Bob Gould 25 seconds into the final stanza.

When Lau left the contest at 3:16 of the third with a severely bruised knee, junior John Hynes came in cold off the bench and surrendered two blue-line bombs to close out the scoring.

THE NOTEBOOK: Jackie Hughes's opening goal in the first period was actually his first of the year, even though he had previously been credited with tallies against B.U. and Brown. Seems the classy junior defenseman went to coach Billy Cleary and told him to give Gene Purdy and Murray Dea credit for the other scores.

The Harvard Band did not attend last night's game, so celebrity bugler Hannibal Dobbs from F Troop performed the National Anthem. SCORE BY PERIODS New Hampshire  0  1  3  --  4 HARVARD  3  4  1  --  8

SCORING SUMMARY

First Period: Jack Hughes (Mike Watson, John Cochrane), 0:25; H--Bob McDonald (John Dunderdale, Jim Trainor), 11:30; H--Jon Garrity (Randy Millen, Steve Andrews) 16:20. Second Period: H--George Hughes (J. Hughes, Trainor) 7:22; H--G. Hughes (David Burke, Jackie Burke), 9:26; NH--Frank Barth (Ralph Cox, Frank Roy), 13:59; H--G. Hughes (J. Hughes), 14:12; H--G. Hughes (J. Burke, D. Burke), 18:55. Third Period: NH--Bob Gould (Bruce Crowder, Terry Flanagan), 0:25; H--D. Burke (Trainor, J. Burke), 4:40; NH--Roy (Barth, Coady), 17:18; NH--Gould (Crowder, Flanagan), 18:24

GOALTENDING

Saves: Greg Moffett (UNH) -- 29

Wade Lau(H) -- 16

John Hynes (H) -- 6

SCORING SUMMARY

First Period: Jack Hughes (Mike Watson, John Cochrane), 0:25; H--Bob McDonald (John Dunderdale, Jim Trainor), 11:30; H--Jon Garrity (Randy Millen, Steve Andrews) 16:20. Second Period: H--George Hughes (J. Hughes, Trainor) 7:22; H--G. Hughes (David Burke, Jackie Burke), 9:26; NH--Frank Barth (Ralph Cox, Frank Roy), 13:59; H--G. Hughes (J. Hughes), 14:12; H--G. Hughes (J. Burke, D. Burke), 18:55. Third Period: NH--Bob Gould (Bruce Crowder, Terry Flanagan), 0:25; H--D. Burke (Trainor, J. Burke), 4:40; NH--Roy (Barth, Coady), 17:18; NH--Gould (Crowder, Flanagan), 18:24

GOALTENDING

Saves: Greg Moffett (UNH) -- 29

Wade Lau(H) -- 16

John Hynes (H) -- 6