Icemen Recover to Knot Bulldogs, 4-4

Trailing 4-1 in the second period, the Harvard hockey team tallied three unanswered goals and held on to tie Yale, 4-4, at the Bright Center Saturday afternoon.

But there was no jubilation in Cambridge Saturday night. The talk of the town centered not no the come-from-behind goals that prevented a loss, but on two that didn't count.

At 15:26 of the third period, an off-balance Bobby McDonald knocked a teetering puck six inches forward into the Yale goal, following it in himself moments later.

The red light lit; the crowd exploded. But referee Joe Faucette, right on the action, waved the score away with one sweep of his arms, although he added several more for effect. McDonald had kicked, not shot, the puck into the net. No goal, still 4-4.

Then, with 1:19 remaining in overtime, Greg Britz flicked a backhander past Yale netminder Keith Allain, off the inside of the post and...

The red light again. The crowd again. And again, Faucette--but this time from 20 or 30 feet away. No goal--tie game.

"I couldn't tell, mine's the worst vantage point in the world," Crimson coach Billy Cleary said after the game. "But a lot of other people say it went in."

Backhanded

One who thought it did was Britz. "Burnsie [left winger Rob Burns] fed me at the blueline, the defenseman overplayed it so I went in deep and took him wide," the freshman center said after the game. "There was a little bit of the net to shoot at, and nobody to pass to, so I took a backhand and I thought I scored."

The action hadn't ended. Seconds later, Mitch Olson slammed a drive off the same post, and then with ten seconds to go, Mike Watson broke free all alone, shot wide, recovered behind the net and (gasp) clanged it against the other post. Cleary: "Jeez, we just can't buy a goal."

Overtime tallies have been scarce this year for the Crimson (one in six tries), but as usual, the second period seemed like a clearance sale.

Greg Olson, who had notched his 15th at 11:56 of the first, added number 16 on a brilliant play with help from McDonald at 11:10 and narrowed Yale's margin to 4-2.

Dave Connors then put the icemen within one when he scored at 14:04, beating Allain on the stick side and giving Paul Mangano--playing, like all four Crimson seniors, in his final home game--his second assist of the campaign.

Three minutes later, the Crimson knotted the score. Jon Garrity, also appearing in his Bright finale, dug the puck out behind the Eli net and fed a positioned Burns who backhanded home the fourth Harvard goal.

But if the scoring had concluded, the opportunities had not. Allain, who recorded 33 saves, had none better than a Rick Benson breakaway which he swallowed between his pads at 5:03 of the third.

Anticipation

At the other end, co-captain John Hynes was similarly busy. Hynes kicked away 24 shots, with an undermanned, ragged and tiring Crimson defense in front of him. In addition, the Chatham, Mass., senior almost came up with the save of the year when he just missed nabbing a Dan Brugman penalty shot--that's right, penalty shot--at 10:14 of the first stanza. HARVARD 4, YALE 4 at Cambridge Harvard (6-10-3)  1  3  0  0-4 Yale (5-13-3)  3  1  0  0-4

Saves: Hynes(H)  9  10  3  2-24 Allain(Y)  8  9  11  3-33

Scoring:

Y--Meehan (Brooke, Behan) 5:50, Y--Lawrence (Brugman, Castraberti) 8:02, Y--Brugman (unassisted) 10:14, H--G. Olson (Turner, M. Olson) 11:56. Period 2: Y--kilroy (Crerar, Castraberti) 10:44, H--G. Olson (McDonald) 11:10, H--Connors (Powers, Mangano) 14:04, H--Burns (Garrity) 17:09. Period 3: no scoring.

Saves: Hynes(H)  9  10  3  2-24 Allain(Y)  8  9  11  3-33

Scoring:

Y--Meehan (Brooke, Behan) 5:50, Y--Lawrence (Brugman, Castraberti) 8:02, Y--Brugman (unassisted) 10:14, H--G. Olson (Turner, M. Olson) 11:56. Period 2: Y--kilroy (Crerar, Castraberti) 10:44, H--G. Olson (McDonald) 11:10, H--Connors (Powers, Mangano) 14:04, H--Burns (Garrity) 17:09. Period 3: no scoring.

Scoring:

Y--Meehan (Brooke, Behan) 5:50, Y--Lawrence (Brugman, Castraberti) 8:02, Y--Brugman (unassisted) 10:14, H--G. Olson (Turner, M. Olson) 11:56. Period 2: Y--kilroy (Crerar, Castraberti) 10:44, H--G. Olson (McDonald) 11:10, H--Connors (Powers, Mangano) 14:04, H--Burns (Garrity) 17:09. Period 3: no scoring.