Tuesday night at Bright found the Terriers of Boston University
blowing the Harvard Crimson off the ice 1-6.  BU was very confident
and played a good skate and pass game that paid off.  Harvard is in
a negative spiral and played poorly most of the night.
 
In the first period, the Terriers played a smart game of absorbing the
opening Harvard surge and then gradually starting their attack which
features some very good fore-checking patterns.  Bob Lachance (Bill
Pierce, Shawn Bates) opened the scoring when Harvard once again was
napping during a face-off.  That has been a problem this season.
Chris O'Sullivan ((Steph's PC95 brother?)) made it 0-2 with 15 seconds
left in the period, when his center from behind the net bounced in off
Harvard goalie Tracy.  In the second, O'Sullivan (Rich Brennan)
finished off a wonderful point pass from Brennan at the far post.
The play occured on another face-off.  BU got a power play goal from
Mike Grier (Brennan, Chris Kelleher) when he deflected in the perfect
pass from Brennan.  The Terriers were in complete control and going
for the kill.  Grier (O'Sullivan, Steve Thornton) made it 0-5 when
a three-way passing play set up the far weak side player on yet
another face-off.  BU finished it's scoring when Ken Rausch (Mike
Prendergast, Jacques Joubert) poked a rebound high into the net.
The Harvard defense was guilty of standing around.  At that point
Harvard changed goalies, and while Steve Hermsdorf did not face
much pressure the rest of the way, he did look fairly good.  In the
final period, with Bright emptying, Steve Martins (Ashlin Halfnight,
Cory Gustafson) finished off a nice dish from Halfnight at the far
post.  The play was made by the efforts of Gustafson along the boards.
 
Boston University has a strong, relatively fast team.  Their passing
game was very good last night.  The key for the Terriers, I think, is
that they seem to be having some fun.  Before the game started the
coaches and players were able to share a joke, and their play during
the match showed that they were having a good time.  All of the BU
defenders played well last night.  I was impressed with the fact
that they all passed very well.  Jon Coleman I found to be a strong
defender in his own end.  Brennan can motor, but what I enjoyed the
most were his excellent passes.  On the night, Kaj Linna's silken
skills were wonderful to watch.  The attack was lead, if not on the
score sheet, on the ice, by the line of Rausch, Joubert and
Prendergast.  I thought the elegant, quick and smart play of Joubert
was fun to watch.  Pierce and Bates also formed a good partnership
setting themselves up with numerous 1-2's.  The player of the match
for me had to be O'Sullivan.  He had wonderful speed and power and
made some nice touch passes.  Overall, BU's controlled skate and
pass game ran very well.  If they can keep their positive joy of the
game going, they could go far.
 
Harvard was tight and negative.  For example, they always like to give
up on their power play when there are 30 seconds or so left.  Every
game they take safety first, and so defeat themselves in many ways.
The Crimson did a lot of gliding out there last night.  There is little
direction to the attack.  We did get some major line combination
changes last night.  The first line saw the speedy Tom Holmes joining
Martins and Gustafson.  Smart move, as Martins and Holmes are wonder-
ful together.  On the night they were the only quick Crimson forwards.
Gustafson was the only other Harvard attacker who showed up.  His
passes were excellent, and he was trying to win the game.  It is
always interesting to see who can play their game, even when the team
is not playing well.  Halfnight played like they were winning big.  I
found his incredible efforts, trying to get the attack moving, while
still using his speed to get back on defense, to be outstanding.  What
a player!  The power play last night featured Gustafson and Bryan
Lonsinger on the points, with Halfnight, Konik and Martins down low.
Outside of some lovely feeds by Gustafson, it was not very powerful.
Overall, the Crimson look down.  I still see a group of extremely
talented players.  But I also see no direction from the coaches.  Work,
work, work is not a game plan.  Hockey is a game, and BU showed you
can have fun and be serious at the same time.
 
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 good shooting
 rhun
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