After Harvard's hockey team destroyed Penn, 12-0, in the squad's first meeting last year, the Quakers knew they'd have to come up with some sort of minor miracle to prevent the same thing from happening when they hosted the Crimson later at Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

The miracle, as Harvard players will cynically tell you, occurred. The ice-resurfacing machine had broken down prior to the game, and Penn had to recruit local youngsters to skate around the rink with shovels, scraping up loose shavings and generally attempting to improve the miserable condition of the ice.

The accident was the Quakers' salvation. The puck could hardly move at all on the pockmarked surface, and often skipped past sticks on long, cross-ice passes. Penn held Harvard for two periods, and although the Crimson simply wore the Red and Blue down in the third, Harvard's margin was only 6-1.

Saturday afternoon marks the first anniversary of the Great Slowdown, but this time, even a mass abduction of local youngsters may not help Penn. The Quakers are presently residing in last place in both the Ivy League and ECAC, and a flock of injuries and defections has reduced the Red and Blue to a shadow of what it was in December, and it wasn't much then.

Since Christmas, the Red and Blue have lost three regulars for personal reasons- defenseman Charlie Samson and wings Warren Baker and Bill Todor- and three others- Hugh Samson, Kevin Kelly and Bob Finke- through knee injuries. And even with a healthy squad, Penn only tied its freshmen, 2-2.

So now the team that would have had trouble winning a game in the Ivy League with a healthy squad is reduced to three of six defensemen, two forward lines, and one goalie, since Joe Dumser is injured. Despite the fact that Harvard is coming off exams and will have only a day or so to skate before Saturday, it will be a horrible, but necessary mismatch.

Harvard has to face the Quakers again next month in Cambridge to fulfill a League scheduling requirement, and the present Quaker squad in its present state of health is little better than the teams the Harvard JV toyed with several years ago when Penn was still a club organization.

In one respect, however, the game will be valuable for Harvard. Monday night it confronts a hard-skating young Boston University team in the opening round of the Beanpot Tournament at Boston Garden, and facing the Terriers right after exams is hardly a savory prospect. So at the very least the Penn game will give the Crimson skaters, including newly returned Dan DeMichele, an adequate chance to regain their pre-exam form- which was becoming more and more impressive with each game.

DeMichele, who fractured an ankle in the Garden Christmas tourney last month, has been skating for a couple of weeks, and should be near full strength this weekend. Senior Ron Mark, however, who separated a shoulder in Montreal over the New Year. Will probably not play Saturday, and should see only limited action Monday.