Contradicting numerous reports of inexperience and incompetence, a determined Varsity hockey team downed the star-studded St. Nicholas aggregation 5 to 3 in their seasonal debut at the Boston Arena Saturday evening.

Playing a scrappy brand of hockey all during the game, the surprising Crimson confounded the many critics who had prophesied a dismal winter for Coach Clark Hodder.

Eaton Breake Tie

Harvard tallied early in the first period and ran up three point lead by the third when the New York veterans put on a series of withering attacks to tie the score. Dave Eaton and Stacy Hulse retrieved the game for their mates when they sank the rubber twice in the last four minutes of play.

After a slow start, Coach Hodder's second line of Prenie Willetts, Dave Eaton, and Stacy Hulse made repeated attacks on the New York cage. A pass from right winger Hulse, who had carried the puck behind the St. Nicks goal, found Eaton in position to make the first score at 5:55.

Captain Bill Coleman accounted for the second tally at 17:26 when he received a pass from Bill Claflin and carried it straight to the cage for an eight foot shot.

Freedley Wards Off Attacks

The Crimson defense operated smoothly in the second period and veteran goalie Vint Freedley again and again warded off St. Nicks Attacks. As much as any other member of the team, Freedley, with his natural ability of knowing when to come out from the cage, deserved credit for Hodder's initial success.

Caught short with Stacy Hulse in the penalty box, Captain Coleman, Skip Ervin and Warren Winslow led a series of sorties which almost succeeded in scoring. Later when Stew Iglehart of St. Nicks was in the bastille, Bob Cox, assisted by Gordy McGrath, made the period's single score at 19:30.

The third canto saw both sides playing their ablest and fastest, with the New York visitors tying the game up in short order. Douglas Cochrane made the first St. Nicks tally when he caught Freedley out of his net. Captain Blake Shepard and Robert Cooke scored consecutively at 14:39 and 15:56 to cause the 3 to 3 deadlock.

Never faltering before the New York blast, the Crimson rallied to net the winning shots in the last four minutes of play. Dave Eaton led off at 16:40 by taking a pass from Prenie Willetts and sinking the rubber from a difficult angle.

In the last 45 seconds of play, Hulse rang the bell again over the protests of the St. Nicks alternate net man Peter Grayce, who threw the puck into the stands and carried on long altercations with the officials. Grayce apparently maintained that the puck and bounced off the goal post clear of the net