HARVARD   1 - 1 - 1 - 1 --- 4
CLARKSON  1 - 2 - 0 - 0 --- 3
 
     Last year my heart went out to the Harvard Crimson when
they lost their NCAA semifinal game to Lake Superior State.  I
thought they should have won, and that they lost on an illegal
"pick" play which was allowed by the officials.  Well, Coach
Tomassoni learned a lesson from it, and Clarkson suffered as
a result.  Tomassoni took a leaf out of Jeff Jackson's book
in order to tie Clarkson on a late third period power play
goal while defenseman Adam Bartell was tied up at the blue
line.  It was very similar to the Lake Superior goal against
Tomassoni last year.  The play was clearly a set one, coming
as it did right after a Harvard time-out.  Bartell and coach
Morris argued vehemently, and were rewarded only with another
penalty (Bartell stayed in the box through the rest of the game
including OT; I don't know whether he got a ten minute misconduct
or he was just in Coach Morris' doghouse after losing his cool
with the ref).  Kelly and Noeth were the refs, BTW.  Fortunately
for Clarkson they were able to kill off the penalty.  However,
with less than 30 seconds left in OT Harvard won the game (Cohagen,
I think) when Clarkson got cought with winger Marko Tuomainen
as the last man back on defense as the Golden Knights were
missing several blueliners; Marko seemed to be standing
around a bit confused (he may have been shaken up since he
had just been knocked hard to the ice at the other end of the
rink).
     In any case, the more teams get away with this interference
the more coaches will try it, and college hockey will only
be worse for it in my opinion.
     In addition to the absence of the band (XMAS break) forcing
us to be subjected to the likes of the Village People and the
Beach Boys (surf music fits right in at a January hockey game
in Potsdam - not!) over the PA, we were without a working scoreboard
throughout the game.  The backup scoreboard at the end of the
rink gave the game time, but penalty info was unavailable except
when announced over the PA, which I couldn't always decipher.
     I have to give Harvard their due.  They played like their
season rested on this game, with great hustle and discipline.
Steve Martins was his usual Hobeyesque self, and Halfnight was
tough all night.  Clarkson had a depleted lineup, with defensemen
Matt Pagnutti (who was also out last night) and Phil Lacavlier
and forward Todd White (still suffering from the elbowing by Humber
last night) absent.  To make matters worse, Ricci was injured in
the second period, then Bartell's absence in the OT left the
defense corps severely depleted.  I don't know if Brian Mueller was
trying too hard to take up all the slack himself, but he had an
uncharacteristically poor game, IMHO.  He took a couple of penalties,
lost a few pucks over the blue line while at the point in the offensive
zone, and was one of the culprits on Harvard's second goal.  On the
bright side for Clarkson, freshman netminder Dan Murphy had a very
good night, facing more than 40 Harvard shots.  The young players
had good games and gained valuable experience from this one.
     Halfnight opened the scoring on a PP blast from the point.
Seitz tied it for Clarkson later in the first period.  In the second
Clarkson took a two goal lead on tallies by Palmer and Tuomainen, but
from then on they let Harvard take the play to them, and seemed
to just be trying to hang on.  That seldom works against such a
talented opponent.  After the game was tied Clarkson came alive and
had some opportunities; they actually had the better of the play in
the OT until it all fell apart in the last minute.
     It wasn't among the best played games I've seen, but it certainly
was yet another very exciting, nail-biting, Harvard-Clarkson battle.
 
Thanks,
-Glenn