Checked out the archives of the Minnesota Daily for the article on the Harvard 3-2 victory over Minnesota in the 89 championship game. Here's what I found. Pretty sad. Date: 04/03/1989 Headline: Harvard upends Gophers for NCAA title Author: Lien, Dan Harvard upends Gophers for NCAA title Dan LienStaff Reporter The Gophers' second place trophy sat by itself on the blueline, where co captain Dave Snuggerud had set it almost 20 minutes earlier. For the 20 Minnesota players, who sat in numbed disbelief on the ice and in the bench, it was small consolation. So small, in fact, that the trophy was nearly left on the ice. This one hurt. For 64 minutes and 16 seconds the Harvard and Minnesota hockey teams poured their hearts into what many felt was the finest college championship game in NCAA history. Ed Krayer's rebound goal 4:16 into overtime gave Harvard a 4 3 win. After the game, players wept openly, each player's face telling the story. It was a familiar story. A story with a sad ending. The game started out strong for Minnesota when Jon Anderson gave the Gophers a 1 0 lead 6:24 into the first period. Linemate Ben Hankinson skated across the Harvard blueline with the puck, drawing a Crimson defenseman with him. Just then, Hankinson spotted Anderson closing in behind him and dropped him the puck. Anderson took two strides and shot the puck past Crimson goalie Chuckie Hughes. The first period ended 1 0 Minnesota, with both teams mustering 10 shots on goal. Harvard, however, killed off three consecutive penalties late in the period and was able to swing the momentum early in the second. "The turning point of the game?" Harvard coach Bill Cleary said. "Our ability to kill penalties." In the second, the CrimsonHockey17Hockey1tied the game at 1 1 when Ted Donato, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, blasted a slapshot over Robb Stauber's shoulder from the blueline. Four minutes later, Hobey Baker winner Lane MacDonald dazzled the crowd with his second goal of the tournament, giving Harvard a 2 1 lead. Three minutes later, Jason Miller gobbled up a Lance Pitlick rebound and slammed the puck past Hughes for a 2 2 tie. The game was tied for the next 25 minutes, until Donato struck again in the third for a 3 2 Harvard lead. "The rebound kind of handcuffed me," Donato said. "I was lucky enough to get it in. I wasn't even sure where it went. All I said was 'This one's still not over. Minnesota was too good a team to give up.'" And the Gophers didn't give up. Four minutes after Donato's goal, Pete Hankinson converted Tom Pederson's pass at the goal mouth and the game was tied. "It was like a golf shot," said Hughes. "I think if I'd ducked, it might have missed the net. But it hit me and went in off my shoulder." Harvard had a great scoring opportunity with just over two minutes remaining when Duluth native Mike Vukonich, a high school teammate of Stauber, broke in and fired, only to have his former classmate thwart his efforts once again. "In high school, I could never score on him either," Vukonich said. In the overtime, Minnesota's Randy Skarda hit the post 2:30 into the extra session, setting the pace for the next two minutes. Both teams battled. Harvard came out on top. In the locker room, where words did little, only the pain and tears of a missed opportunity remained. Snuggerud wept openly, struggling to get dressed. Todd Richards walked briskly out of the locker room. His eyes were red. His dream was over. Four years, four heartbreaks. "It's a pretty sad group. This one hurts right in the gut. The pain leaves you, thank God," said Gopher coach Doug Woog, fighting back tears of his own. This one hurt, players said, not because this was the year they were supposed to win it. This one hurt because this was the year where the Gophers grew closer than any team they had played on previously. The tears were for each other. "I think I'll remember the guys the most," Jon Anderson said. "The friendships, the family. We all suffer together." Stauber said, "It's really sad. We've worked so hard and we came inches away. It's not easy to handle. Losing never is." Next door in the Harvard locker room, there was the typical hugging, high fiving and handshakes that go with an NCAA Championship, but there was also modesty. The kind of modesty you'd expect from an Ivy League school. "It was a tribute to play Minnesota," Cleary said. "And I told them so after the game. They play hockey the way it was meant to be played. It was too bad someone had to lose this game. There really wasn't a loser tonight. The big winners were the fans. To me, that's a tribute to how the game of hockey should be played." The Gophers were in the early stages of acceptance and they found it difficult. As they walked out to waiting friends and parents in an outer corridor, their heads were down, their hearts were broken. As Snuggerud emerged from the locker room, he spotted assistant coach Dean Talafous, who brought Snuggerud from high school to the Minneapolis Junior Stars to the Gophers. Again, he began to cry. "Snuggy, when I was young and lost a game like this I'd almost want to kill myself," Talafous said. "When you've played your guts out and given it your all, you walk away. That's all you can do. You'll have other chances." "I know," Snuggerud said, "But..." Nothing else needed to be said. NCAA ChampionshipSaturday, April 1, 1989MINNESOTA11103Harvard02114First periodMINN Anderson 20 (B. Hankinson, Olimb) 6:34Penalties: Krayer, Har. (cross checking) 13:21; Carone, Har. (high sticking) 15:33; Melrose, Har. (holding) 17:39. Second periodHar. Donato 13 (Bourbeau, MacDonald) (pp) 6:30;Har. MacDonald 31 (Young) 10:29MINN Miller 16 (Pitlick, Chorske) (pp) 13:01Penalties: Pitlick, MINN (elbowing) 0:56; Richards, MINN (holding) 5:57; Chorske, MINN (hooking) 7:22; Snedden, Har. (hooking) 11:08; Chorske, MINN (interference) 17:09; Caplan, Har. (elbowing) 18:44. Third periodHar. Donato 14 (Snedden, Vukonich) 12:53MINN P. Hankinson 16 (Pederson, Skarda) (pp) 16:34Penalties: Pederson, MINN (roughing) 0:46; Carone, Har. (holding) 7:29; Bourbeau, Har. (high sticking) 9:59; Weisbroad, Har. (cross checking) 14:46. OvertimeHar. Krayer 12 (McCormack) 4:16SavesStauber, MINN10851 24Hughes, Har108132 33Power plays: MINNESOTA 2 8, Harvard 1 5Penalties: MINNESOTA 5 10, Harvard 8 16Referee: Steve Piotrowski (CCHA)Attendance: 15,861 (sellout)Tournament attendance: 63,423 (NCAA record) HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.