The Harvard hockey team played well against Cornell in Ithaca last night, but only for 22 minutes. The other 38 were all Cornell, as the Big Red downed the Crimson, 8-4.

Twenty of those minutes came in the first period when Harvard took a 1-0 lead. The other two minutes came in the third period when Harvard tallied three times, in the interval between, well, Cornell scored six straight unanswered goals.

Sophomore goalie John VanDerMark was bombed by 12 shots in the first stanza, as the Harvard shooters warmed up. VanDerMark robbed senior Tim McKenna and sophomore Bob Leckie on early scoring bids.

Finally, Harvard broke the ice when sophomore. Jon Keely deflected a Kevin O'Donoghue drive past VanDerMark at 11:01.

Cornell returned in the second period with new life, erasing the one goal deficit at 7:01 on a David Ambrosia score. Junior Brian Petrovek stopped the first two Cornell bids, but Ambrosia poked in the rebound before the Crimson defense could clear.

The Harvard power play failed again after Cornell's Wayne Stokes was penalized for the third time of the night. VanDerMark, boasting a 1.24 goals-against average in Ivy competition, again foiled Harvard with a save on junior Bill Horton.

Cornell's Big Red machine started cranking up and took the lead at 9:30 on a Brian Campbell goal. Campbell was left alone to Petrovek's right and poked the puck into the lower far cornier.

Campbell wasn't through yet. With Petrovek down and scrambling, he scored less than seven minutes later at 16:20 to give the Big Red a 3-1 lead.

Harvard's disastrous second period could have been salvaged when Cornell's Robin Lang went to the penalty box at 17:08. Not only did the Crimson power play fail for the fourth straight time, but Cornell's Mark Trivett was allowed to casually stroll in on Petrovek on left wing.

Trivett's shorthanded score at 17:56 boosted Cornell to a 4-1 lead. The crowd began jeering at Petrovek, but the jeers were drowned out by the music" "Goodbye, Harvard, we hate to see you go."

Harvard captain Kevin Carr hated it too, but VanDerMark robbed him with a dazzling glove save at the close of the period.

The Big Red threat continued into the third period. Cornell shot the puck into the Harvard zone off the opening face off, and Petrovek made the save, pushing the puck to his right.

But the only skater on his right was Cornell's Lance Nethery. Nethery extended the Cornell lead to 5-1, and Harvard's hopes for ten straight wins vanished.

Cornell finished the blitzkreig minutes later. A Lang drive hit the post, and John Harper drove the rebound home.

Suddenly Crimson drives began eluding VanDerMark. Freshman George Hughes, junior Bill Hozack and freshman Gene Purdy all scored within two minutes to cut the Cornell Lead to 6-4 midway through the period.

But the comeback was not to be. With Horton off for tripping Nethery scored his second of the night with a quick shift to his second of the night with a quick shift to his backhand at 16:35.

Coach Bill Cleary was forced to shuffle the Harvard lines. Senior Kevin Burke skipped the game with a bad back, and junior Dave Bell did not return with the team after the second period.

Seven straight wins for Cornell almost assure the Big Red of an ECAC berth. For Harvard, the loss means a long road to the playoff.