The Harvard hockey team made short work of Yale's over-rated sextet, building a 4-0 lead and finishing with a 7-3 triumph at the Boston Arena Saturday night. Seven different players scored and goalie Bill Diercks shut the Elis out for the first 52 minutes as Harvard began its end-of-season surge into the ECAC playoffs.

All three Crimson lines kept the puck in the Yale zone on their first turns, but it wasn't until 11:15 of the opening period that Pete Mueller took a pass from Kent Parrot and scored Harvard's first goal.

Five minutes later defenseman Bob Carr aimed a 35-footer into the upper left corner for a 2-0 lead. Carr faked a shot twice and used a screen by Pete Waldinger to set up his fourth goal in the last four games.

Three minutes into the second period, Yale goalie Mark Dayton blocked hard shots by Tom Micheletti and Waldinger, then tucked Waldinger's weak follow-up from the side into the goal.

Yale's hopes went as flat as its defensemen who tried to stop Bobby Bauer from stickhandling across the Eli blue line three minutes later. Bauer's move set up Charlie Scammon's shot from the left point, which Dwight Ware tipped in.

Ah. Fella...

Harvard boosted its lead to 5-0 midway through the third period when Bulldog defenseman Dwight Miller took a nice setup by Harvard's Don Grimble and bulleted a 20-footer into the far corner of his own goal.

Diercks, who was shaken up twice in the final period by a puck and a defenseman, lost his valiant shutout bid on a solo effort by Yale's Rick McCarthy with less than eight minutes to play. Pete Markle got the Blues' second goal at 14:15, and Wint Ritchie gave the Bulldog a meaningless third on a breakaway at 19:33.

Harvard's last two goals were an unassisted 30-footer by Don Grimble at 17:30 and a breakaway by Jack Garrity at 18:36. Garrity came on behind the Yale defense on a Harvard line change, took a pass from Barry Johnson, and slid the puck between Dayton's legs. But for Ritchie's later effort, it would have been a perfect ending to the rout.

Diercks's 29 saves included four of the unbelievable variety. Dayton, pressed by 22 shots in the third period, made 46 saves.

Back at the 500 level, Harvard travels to Princeton Tuesday then finishes the regular season in New Haven next Saturday.