Underdogs

Earlier this year, RPI Coach Mike Addesa called the 1987-88 Harvard hockey team a squad of "overachievers."

Addesa did not mean to be insulting, but was simply trying to explain that the Crimson was not as talented a team as past Harvard teams. Still, it managed to play like those past teams.

Maybe "overachievers" is not the right word, but this year's Harvard team won the ECAC regular-season title with no dominant scorer. It placed only one player, defenseman Don Sweeney, on the All-ECAC Team.

Everyone in college hockey--from St. Lawrence's Joe Marsh to Michigan State's Ron Mason-knew Harvard was not going to be as talented a team as before.

But that didn't matter for this year's team. The Crimson's seniors had their finest seasons. Harvard's freshman class was one of the best in the country.

The season had a bittersweet ending last weekend in the NCAA Tournament first-round series against MSU at Bright Center. Yet the entire season--whatever twists and turns it took in the post-season--could not have been a dissapointment.

Kevin Predicts: MSU forward Kevin Miller, who returned to the Spartan line-up in the middle of February, had nothing but praise for his two Olympic teammates, Harvard's Allen Bourbeau and Lane MacDonald, after the Spartans' victory over the Crimson.

Miller on Bourbeau: "If he's playing well, he's so good with the puck and around the net. He could always find you when you're down there."

Miller on MacDonald: "Lane's one of the fastest guys I've ever played with. He's an asset whenever he's on the ice because he's so dangerous with is speed."

And what about Harvard's chances next year, Kevin?

"I think Harvard can be one of the top teams in the country with those two quality players coming back."

Best of the West?: The East went 0-for-first round in the NCAA playoffs last weekend.

While Harvard lost to MSU, Vermont fell to Bowling Green, Lowell was tripped up by Wisconsin and Merrimack stunned Northeastern.

Merrimack, seeded sixth in the West, is actually a team from the East. But since the Warriors entered the tournament as an independent, they were seeded in the West.

Following the momentum of other Western seeds, the Warriors joined their new Western buddies in the NCAA quarterfinal round.

NCAA Tournament: This weekend's quarterfinal action pits Michigan State (27-14-3) against Minnesota (30-8-2), Wisconsin (30-12-1) versus St. Lawrence (26-7), Bowling Green (29-11-2) at Maine (30-6-2) and Merrimack (34-4) against Lake Superior State (30-6-6).

Who will make the Final Four? After realizing it is wise to pick a champion from a Final Four team, here are my hockey predictions:

Final Four: MSU, SLU, Maine, Lake Superior. Champion: Wyoming, no wait, Maine.

Career Years: One of the biggest reasons why Harvard captured its fourth-straight 20-win season was that several Crimson players had career seasons.

Case in point: senior Andy Janfaza. Janfaza tallied 17 goals this season, six more than he scored in his other three years combined. And sophomore John Murphy, who, after scoring three goals in 34 games last year, lit the red 12 times this season.

Last year, excluding MacDonald, Bourbeau and Tim Barakett, Harvard had only five players with more than 20 points.

Thanks, Guys:Special thanks goes to Assistant Sports Information Director Jeff Bradley and SID Frank Cicero (who surfaced toward the end of the season) for their help throughout the season.