The ECAC may have no pair of teams more closely matched than the two that will take the Boston Garden ice at 6:15 p.m. tonight.

Harvard and New Hampshire (UNH) finished the season with identical, 15-5-1 records. All that separated the second seeded Crimson from the third-seeded Wildcats was a 7-5 Harvard victory in their Dec 7 meeting a game that was tied with five minutes left.

The similarities go beyond the records UNH boasts a well-balanced offense with 15 players notching at least 10 points so far while Harvard has 14 skaters in double digits. Despite its balance, the Wildcat attack has one crucial goal-scorer, junior right wing Dan Potter (25 goals and 20 assists for 45 points in 31 games), who has failed to score a point only once in his last 15 games (a UNH loss). And the Crimson's offense often depends on its own big gun. Scott Fusco (29-19-48 in 26 games).

Thin Ice

Most important, both teams are hot coming into the Garden. The Wildcats have lost just once in their last 10 games, while Harvard has taken eight of its last 10. By contrast, the other two semifinalists, Providence and St. Lawrence, stumbled into the playoffs. The Friars dropped their final regular-season pair, while the Larries coasted to a 14-5 finish after a 10-0 start. So tonight's early-game victor may be the favorite in tomorrow's championship.

Harvard and UNH play similar styles of hockey, stressing the skating and passing game. The Wildcats place more emphasis on dogged fore checking, though, while Harvard holds an edge ion the defensive department UNH netminder. Todd Pearson is reputed to be a good pressure goalie though his goals against (3.57) doesn't quite stack up to Grant Blair's 2.57.

If Harvard takes any big advantage into the Garden tonight it's a winning streak versus UNH stretching back to 1978. New Hampshire has been a consistent ECAC power in the last few years taking the title in 1979 and reaching the Garden last season and this but the Crimson carries a six-game series streak into tonight's showdown.

"I got a letter from a frustrated fan yesterday annoyed about us having to play Harvard." UNH Coach Charlie Holt said yesterday.

There's obviously much more riding on tonight's Harvard UNH rematch than on the previous games. It's worth a trip to the final, but--as important, at least for Harvard a win could clinch home ice in the opening round of the NCAA Championship. Four Eastern teams will play in the tourney; two will stay home and two will travel West. If the Crimson makes the top two in the ECAC playoffs after finishing second in the regular season, it will play at Bright Center next weekend.

Like UNH and Harvard, the late-game semifinalists also have NCAA bids locked up. And though Providence is the tourney's top seed and St. Lawrence the fourth, the visitors from the North Country are no long shots. The West Division champs finished the regular campaign just one-and-a-half games behind the Friars--which indicates just how evenly matched all of the final four are.

The 9 p.m. contest shapes up as a classic offense-vs-defense battle. The regular season champs have scoring power in a trio of ever dangerous forwards. Gates Orlando Paul Guay and Kurt Kleinendorst, while the Saints boast defense men Steve Smith and Kent Carlson who are both sizable and skilled Presidency can respond with Randy Velishek. ECAC Player of the Year on defense, but the Larries have the edge in goal with senior Gray Weiker.