Harvard's hockey varsity came with-in 12 inches of pulling off the greatest upset of the year in Eastern hockey last night at Watson Rink, but finally lost a 1-0 sudden-death heartbreaker to power-laden Boston University.

The Terriers' Pete McLachian scored the only goal of the night at 2:52 of the extra period with Crimson goalie Wade Welch Screened by a mass of skaters. McLachian took the puck at the left point when Brian Gilmore's shot from the other point carromed out to him. He wound up and fired into the screen, the red light went on, and Harvard's upset bid was shattered.

Welch made numerous excellent saves during regulation time, as B.U. dominated play most of the game. The Terriers occasionally gave Harvard a helping hand by missing an open net or shooting the puck right into Welch.

At the one minute mark of the over-time session, Harvard came within a whisker of beating the team which many feel is the best in the East. Crimson wing Kenny Burnes' shot from center ice carromed high into the air off the Terrier defense and fell at the feet of B.U. goalie Jack Ferreria.

The puck squirmed through Ferreria's pads and trickled to within a foot of the net. But the goalie knocked it aside just in time, and Harvard's last chance was gone.

Defenses Devastating

The defenses dominated the regulation 60 minutes, as Welch made 19 saves and Ferreria, 15. The Terriers' back-checking was particularly devastating, and the B.U. linemen pitched in by surrounding their net whenever Harvard managed to penetrate Terrier territory.

Solid Crimson defensive checking, particularly by John Daly and little Bob Coleman, kept the Terrier forwards honest most of the time. Welch had to make just one save during the three Crimson penalties.

Some fine Crimson forechecking harried the B.U. offense in the first period. The Terriers' reluctance to pass the puck while in their own zone and their insistence on shooting rather than skating it over the Harvard blue line also dampened their attack.

Toward the end of the second period, two great saves by Welch on shots by Terriers Mike Sobeski and Dennis O'Connell thwarted the first good scoring opportunities that either team got.

Both squads came close in the third period as the game opened up a little. At the six minute mark, Terrier Shaun Quinlan tipped a defenseman's shot over the Crimson cage, and then missed the net from ten feet away. Minutes later, with Harvard's Daly in the penalty box, B.U.'s Sobeski misfired from the corner of the Crimson net with Welch out of position.

But Harvard wouldn't give up. With about five minutes left, Gordie Price slid the puck into the Terrier crease behind Ferreria, only to have it knocked away by a B.U. defenseman. Regulation time ended as Welch made a fine stop on a screened shot by McLachian.