Teams Load Holiday with Slate of Games

Although the national champion Harvard women's hockey team is taking a rest over the holidays to lick its wounds after last Friday's 9-2 thrashing at the hands of the United States national team, three other Harvard squads will be in action over the break.

The men's hockey, and men's and women's basketball teams will all be on the road, from sunny Florida to snowy Vermont and out to the ponds of Minnesota.

Men's Hockey

After a disappointing tie against Ivy foe Dartmouth, the Crimson (6-5-1, 5-3-1 ECAC) stepped up the intensity last weekend and beat Northeastern in overtime in front of 2,000 at the Bright Hockey Center to gain sole possession of first place in the ECAC.

Senior forward Matt Macleod took the feed from junior forward Chris Bala just 41 seconds into the extra period for the win and to put Harvard ahead of Colgate and Yale in the standings, who are tied for second.

With regained momentum, the Crimson heads out to the Mariucci Classic at the University of Minnesota, a round robin that features the University of Northern Michigan (13-4-1, 9-2-1 CCHA) and UMass (4-8-2, 0-6-1 Hockey East) in addition to the host Golden Gophers (6-10-2, 4-6-2 WCHA).

Mariucci Arena was the site of the men's team's 1989 national championship victory and last year's women's title game.

The Crimson will face the Golden Gophers at 7 p.m. on Dec. 29, and, pending the outcome, the next day will take on the winner or loser of the Northern Michigan-UMass game.

Despite the Crimson's recent success, Northern Michigan will be the team to beat in the tournament. Roger Trudeau leads the Wildcats with 13 goals and 9 assists, but has help from teammates Chris Gobert (10, 6) and Tyson Holly (3, 13).

The Crimson will return to Bright on Jan. 8 to take on Princeton (4-6-3, 3-2-3 ECAC), who is currently tied for fourth with St. Lawrence in the conference.

Women's Basketball

The Harvard women's basketball team was out-rebounded and simply out-played this weekend in a 61-42 loss against Northeastern this weekend.

Before last Saturday's loss, the Crimson (6-4) had won three straight, including an impressive 74-71 victory over La Salle in the consolation game of the ECAC Holiday Festival, and a convincing 24-point win over Rhode Island.

The Crimson (6-4) was outrebounded on the offensive end 20-9, and Northeastern star Tesha Tinsley netted 18 points to lead the Wildcats (5-5), 16 in the second half. Harvard, on the other hand, managed just 7-of-28 shooting in the second frame.

If the Crimson is going to have any fun over the break, it better regain its focus and put on the game face for its Dec. 29 game at New Hampshire.

UNH (4-4, 1-1America East) faced off against Northeastern earlier this month and prevailed, 70-42. The Wildcat defense held Tinsley to two points on 0-for-11 shooting.

Earlier in the month UNH posted another convincing win when it took out Princeton on the road, 74-61. The Wildcats' only other game in December was a 61-59 overtime home loss to Boston University.

The Wildcats have been lead by two sophomore forwards. Against Princeton, Aubrey Danen lead UNH with a career-high 22 points, while classmate Anna Matthias netted 17 points and 9 rebounds against Northeastern.

Men's Basketball

Minus Dan Clemente, the Harvard men's basketball team has been trying to regain early season success.

After starting 3-0, the Crimson has lost five of its last six and is looking for someone--or a few people--to replace Clemente's 21 points per game and help the Crimson offense down the stretch.

In its most recent game, the Crimson fell 72-63 to Northeastern despite leading by as much as seven points in the second half. Besides the gaping hole in the offense, the Crimson's other problems seem to be a lack of stamina in a young rotation.

Freshmen forwards Sam Winter and Oni Mayshak have been stepping in for Clemente at power forward, and captain Damian Long has been trying to replace him in the scoring column.

Long had 18 points on 14 shots against Northeastern, but the effort was not enough as the Crimson was outscored 42-27 in the second half.

With four gams over the holiday, Harvard will have a chance to figure things out and head into January with some sense of direction.

The Crimson first faces off against Sacred Heart tonight in Fairfield, Conn., at 7 p.m. The Pioneers are lead by Donte Lloyd, who scored 15 points in an 83-70 loss to Qunnipiac in the squad's Northeast Conference opener.

Harvard next travels to the Sunshine State to take on South Florida (4-2) at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 29. From there the Crimson comes back north for a game at Vermont (2-5, 0-1 America East) at 1 p.m. on Jan. 2.

The Crimson will return home to face SUNY-Albany (3-7) on Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.