Princeton stepped out onto the ice last Saturday night with the hope of losing its 15th game of the season by a respectable score, and for the first period of play, its chances didn't look too bad.

Joe Cavanagh and Dan DeMichele decided to fatten up their scoring totals, however, and Harvard turned a bearable 2-0 score into an 8-0 rout of the feeble Tigers.

Princeton's back-checking, mildly rough defensive game slowly disintegrated as the Crimson recovered from exams and pre-exam losses. Shaking off a rusty first period, Harvard put in six goals in the last two periods to loosen up for tonight's Beanpot opener against B.C.

DeMichele continued to pick up his scoring pace, netting four goals for the Crimson. He has now scored eight goals in the last three games after experiencing a long drought around Christmas time.

DaMichele's resurgence is due largely to Cavanagh's passing. The senior All-American set up all of DeMichele's goals against Princeton while picking up five assists and breaking the Ivy League record for career assists with 51.

One of Cavanagh's assists came on a beautiful short-handed goal by third-line wing Tommy Paul. Paul picked up a second goal in the third period to break out of a long scoreless streak, a streak shared by the entire third line.

Harvard coach Cooney Weiland tried to bring the third line out of its costly slump by shaking it up against Princeton. Bobby Havern was benched for most of the night, and sophomore Jay Riley now seems to have secured a spot on the line.

Sophomore Harry Reynolds skated for missing Billy Corkery on the second line and played well after a slow start, picking up an assist. It is quite likely that Reynolds will replace Lief Rosenberger on the third line, leaving only Paul remaining from the original all junior third line.

Harvard's defense played well. although there wasn't much to stop. Bruce Durno kicked out 19 shots to pick up his fifth shutout of the season. Princeton's goalie Eddie Swift had a much busier night, turning away 38 of Harvard's 46 shots.

The defense also chipped in a goal as Doug Elliott bombed in his hard slap-shot to finish the scoring at 18:20 of the third period.

B.C.'s Last Chance

Harvard takes on a somewhat more serious opponent tonight in Boston Garden. A disappointingly mediocre B.C. team will be playing for its life. The Eagles' captain, John Powers, told the press, "This could be the whole season for us." It is probably B.C.'s last chance to salvage some respectability out of a thus-far 8-12 season.

The Eagles have been playing better lately, smashing Northeastern, 10-3, and overcoming a decent St. Lawrence team, 7-4. Still, as B.C. teams go, this is clearly an inferior one, and it may indicate the inadequacy of coach Snooks Kelley's non-Canadian recruiting policy.