Boston College fans out-sang and the Eagle band out-played their Crimson counterparts, but Harvard did the scoring in Watson Rink last night to blast B.C. 3-1, and revenge last week's Bean Pot Tournament loss. The varsity never trailed in what proved to be a classic game of goalies, defense, and masterful line-juggling.
Early honors went to the Boston musicians whose ragtime tunes and chants of "Let's go, let's go, let's really go!" kept everyone entertained for the first two minutes of action. Ike Ikauniks stole the show with the Crimson's first marker at 3:06 of the opening period.
The varsity's right wing scored on a solo play, slapping his own rebound past goalie Tom Apprille from close in. Trailing by one, the vaunted Eagle lines came to life and dominated play in the rest of the first period. When B.C. scored at the 15-minute mark and continued to keep the puck in varsity territory, it seemed like the Bean Pot tourney all over again.
Neither Team Scores
The trend began to change in the middle 20 minutes. The Crimson didn't score but neither did the Eagles and play centered around the Eagle net. The varsity kept the puck past the B.C. blue line even with two men in the penalty box.
The scoreless second period was a real tribute to coach Cooney Weiland's manipulation of Crimson personnel. Weiland skated a new line of defensive forwards against the Eagles' high-scoring trio of All-American Bill Hogan, Jack Leetch, and Paul Aiken.
This fearsome B.C. threesome has amassed 130 points in 19 games, but was held scoreless last night by Gene Kinasewich, Billy Fryer, and Gerry Jorgenson. Time and again Jorgenson broke up passing plays and Kinasewich played B.C.'s Leetch so well that the Eagle forward (48 points) only managed three shots in 60 minutes of play.
Smith Breaks Tie
The third period opened with the Boston College alma mater while the Eagle skaters stood at attention on their own blue line. Undaunted by such spiritual melodies, the Crimson countered with a goal by Baldy Smith at 1:49 of the period. Thus began one of the finest 20 minutes in University hockey history.
Smith's tie-breaking marker was followed in less than two minutes by another tally, giving the varsity a 3-1 advantage. Clearing the puck past mid-ice, defenseman Dave Johnston slapped a pass to Tim Taylor near the blue line. Taylor waltzed around the B.C. secondary and jammed his shot past Apprille at 3:39.
The tally was captain Taylor's eighteenth goal and gave him the team scoring lead with 31 points. Johnston's assist was his seventeenth of the season--a phenomenal number for a defenseman.
Defense Holds B.C.
Nursing a two-goal lead, Weiland turned increasingly to his harassing line of Kinasewich, Jorgenson, and Fryer. The trio continued to keep the B.C. line at bay in spite of penalties and abysmal officiating.
Godfrey Wood in the Crimson not frustrated B.C.'s better efforts, while the secondary of Johnston, Ron Thomson, Mike Patterson, and John Daly stymied less threatening onslaughts.
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