Coach Bill Cleary stood outside the Harvard locker room yesterday, a rather forelorn figure. The real crowds were just a few feet away, outside the Boston College locker room.

"I've got to be pleased," he said several times of his team's play, shaking his head occasionally, accepting consolation from his friends. Indeed, you had to be pleased. too, if you went to the Boston Garden last night looking for a great hockey game of the sort you might expect in the Beanpot.

The Harvard fans couldn't be too pleased though, because their team--playing without top scorer Scott Fusco, sidelined by a groin injury--came ever so close to earning a berth in next Monday's championship, only to fall to B. C. after 8:53 of sudden-death overtime. Eagle freshman Bob Sweeney stole the puck from Harvard's Mitch Olson in the Crimson zone and passed to linemate Ed Rauseo, who swept the puck around Harvard goalie Grant Blair.

Harvard's overall record fell to 11-6-1 with the loss (9-5-1 in the ECAC). Fusco, who decided only two hours before last night's faceoff to miss the Beanpot opener, said he will definitely play tonight, when Harvard returns to the ECAC wars at home against Providence.

Harvard came as close to winning as possible last night, only to falter in the end. The iceman took a one-goal lead into the final four minutes of regulation before surrendering a power-play goal to Eagle Captain Lee Blossom.

At the 2:30 mark in overtime, Dave Burke blasted a shot that hit the right post behind B. C. netminder Billy Switaj almost flush. And at 6:14, the game seemed to be Harvard's when B. C. 's David Livingston was called for momentarily bolding Tony Visone in center ice. But the Eagles survived the power play, covering well at both points and preventing Harvard blueliners Ken Code and Mark Fusco from launching booming slapshots.

"There's no question we were struggling at that time," B C Coach Len Ceglarski said later. "I thought Billy (Switaj) handled it really well."

And after Switaj survived the crisis, the Eagle forwards took over and 49 seconds after Livingston came out of the penalty box, it was all over.

When the teams left the ice, the skaters from Chestnut Hill had won their fifth straight opening-round and their second straight in overtime.

Nevertheless, the Crimson had put up a fight. "We had our chances in the third period and overtime," Cleary said. "In the third period, they [B C] really didn't generate anything until the penalty We did a great job We had more chances in the third period than they did."

But the Eagles played a sensational game of their own, holding an edge in the early going and waiting for their opportunities in the stretch

After both teams came out looking hesitant in the opening minutes. Eagle defensemen Jim Chisolm broke the ice With his team mates screening Blair, Chisolm smacked a moving puck at the left point and beat the freshman netminder low at the far side

But the Crimson goalie came fighting back Just minutes after the first goal. Blair was called on to stop a point-blank rebound attempt by Billy McDonough during a power play and survived a Rob Monleon breakaway when the Eagle right wing shot wide

But then Harvard's Greg Britz, breaking down the right wing, hit Greg Chalmers in the slot with a perfect centering pass which the sophomore center converted, tying the score at 10 18

The Crimson played B C more evenly after that With Blossom in the penalty box, Switaj had to make tough stops on Britz's offerings from the crease and on a Mark Fusco slap shot.