The Harvard Crmison came to Meehan arena to do one thing, WIN. They
gave the nod to MI native Tripp Tracy to be the stalwart between the posts.
He was anything but. The Crimson busted out of the gate in high gear to swarm
the Bears early with a couple of nice flurries, but soon fell behind for nearly
the entire game. Freshman Ethan Philpott showed momentarily why he should be
considered one of the best freshmen in the NCAA - as he looked to have donned
rockets in lieu of his Bauers as he blasted by three Bruins, splitting two of
them, only to have Brown goalie Geoff Finch beat him to the puck. Finch
wisely came out of his net to the top of the circle to stop the play. The
freshman phenom Philpott, resigned the rest of the night to loafing around
and just laying CRUSHING hits on anyone who got near him. (The Harvard
football team's defensive unit could have used his services earlier as the
Bears gridders rolled to a 44 - 29 trouncing of the Crimson.) This guy is BIG.
The referees gave the Bruins every chance they could think of (and even
made up a few) as referee Ammian consistently saw infractions that just weren't
occuring, giving the Bruins as many as three 5 - 3 opportunities during the
game.
Crimson veteran and standout forward Cory "I'm a Goon" Gustafson should
learn to stay out of the box more, as he did in the overtime allowing him to
break away from the Bears defenders and BLAST a shot past Geoff Finch that few
people in the arena even saw.
Brown took the lead in the first period when senior captain Kelly Jones
tipped a cross-crease pass from linemate and fellow captain Chris Kaban over
the right pad of Tripp Tracy. The period ended with Brown leading 2 - 1 on
another goal by Bruin junior defenseman Mike Traggio. The lone Crimson tally
came during a 5 min major to senior defenseman Mark Shaughnessy for checking
from behind. The puck was being tied up along the boards near the top of the
circle to Finch's right when Shaughnessy lowered his head and ran into the
Crimson forward along the boards in a very vicious manner. Harvard set up
and scored within the first minute on a tipped shot from the left point. The
Bears clamped down for the rest of the penalty and allowed no other quality
scoring chances for the duration of the infraction.
The second period saw Harvard go with an all freshmen forward line often
that consisted of Ehtan Philpott, Joe Craigen, and Stuart Swenson. The future
of hockey in Caimbridge looks bright if these three make any progress at all
as players during their four years. Craigen, a center from MN, can handle the
puck extremely well. With Philpott roaming around and the equally talented
Swenson - these three will be dangerous. They have just enough speed to keep
them in the thick of it with the best in the league.
(I knew I should have taken a notebook with me to the game.)
Brown would score another goal in the second to stay ahead 3 - 2. Tripp
Tracy looked terrible during this period. He was everywhere EXCEPT where he
should have been. Traggio added the lone Bear's tally of the period for his
second of the night. The lone Harvard goal came from junior defenseman
Peter McLaughlin.
In the third, Harvard sent in some fresher legs for most of the period
in an effort to catch up, but ended up relying on their veterand to pull the
game out for them. Jason Karmanos, Brian Farrell, and Tom Holmes seemed to
have been on the ice almost the whole period. The Bruins capitalised on a
power play goal by Eric Trach as the Harvard defenders seemed confused about
what was going on and let the small center from Mahopack, NY sneak in next
just to the left of Tracy where he was fed a pass from the right circle and
buried it into the empty net as the the Harvard defenseman dove to try and
stop the goal. (Senior standout Steve McCann was called for high sticking.)
That was all the bears could muster. Steve Martins, a junior forward
from Quebec (this guy has wheels! He is the strongest skater by far, of
anyone from either team. He has the talent to do it all!) Frehsman Joe
Craigen got the Crimson's first tally of the period as he picked up a rebound
in front of a fallen Finch and sent the puck into the top shelf.
The tying goal came with just under three minutes to play in the game.
With the referees starting to call a more even game (Note: the game flowed
fairly nicely all night, they just kept putting Harvard down by as many men
as possible in the first two periods) the Bruins were penalized a man.
(can't remember who or for what right now) After wasting the first minute of
the man advantage, Harvard called a timeout and sent Martins, McCann, and
Farrel to the front line. 20 seconds later, as Martins streaked in from the
top of the left circle, he dished off to a wide open McCann standing at the
right circle who promptly buried it behind the Bears goalie. The Crimson
offense gathered round to congratulate thier captain for tying the game.
McCann was used often as a winger on the power play all night long. This
guy is VERY good. Not a single Bruin could get by him when he was on defense
and he can lead the attack (and he love to do it) whenever the situation
presents itself.
Tripp Tracy did make two nice kick saves in the final minute to send the
game into overtime, but Finch played much better as he stopped two breakaways
during the third period.
3 minutes into the overtime, it was over. Harvard showed in the last
10 mins of regulation that they NEVER want to lose. They did everything
except score on numerous occasions. Harvard looked to be the better team,
they dominated play when they weren't short-handed. Shots on goal at the
end of regulation were 34 - 22 Harvard.
Maybe the Harvard team should be in the top 12, but not the top 5.
And hey, anyone want to put the Brown Bears up there? I think I'll wait
till next week before I call that one.
Mike
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DOS = Dead Operating System | DOS is Dead,
Windows = Windoze | Windoze shall never awaken,
N/T = Nice Try | Nice Try though:
Solaris = Slow-aris | Slow as an abbacus,
OS/2 = Our Saviour is 2 | WPS: Where Productivity Starts.
-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] | Michael Sheridan
[log in to unmask] | 95 Benevolent St.
[log in to unmask] | Providence, RI 02906
[log in to unmask] | (401) 351-9721
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