It was an open question for about two hours Saturday night. But late in the third period, 3100 fans at Bright Hockey Center finally knew for sure that Harvard was headed for the ECAC final four next weekend at the Garden.

With just over four minutes showing on the clock, Crimson winger Jim Turner found linemate Scott Fusco free in the high slot in front of RPI goalie Gerry Fink. Fusco fumbled for a moment to get set to shoot, then passed off to his brother Mark, unguarded at the right point.

Now, when you give any defenseman a clear shot from the point, that's chancy. And when that blueliner has a slapshot like Mark Fusco's, it's even riskier. But when the Engineer defense let Fusco walk in several steps from the point to let go with full force, it was a matter of split-seconds before the net bulged behind Fink, the Harvard crowd roared and everyone realized the Crimson had clinched its quarterfinal playoff series.

The two consecutive wins over the East's highest scoring team in the regular season sent Harvard on to a Friday night matchup with New Hampshire, which outlasted a tough B.U. team in its quarterfinal series. The two squads finished the campaign with identical 15-5-1 records, though the Crimson will be the "home" team this Friday, thanks to its 7-5 victory when the Wildcats visited Bright in December.

But for a while on Saturday it seemed RPI might keep Harvard from making its second straight appearance in the ECAC semis. The Engineers had dropped a 5-1 decision at Bright the previous evening; with their season on the line, they didn't give up easily. On Friday the Crimson cruised to victory, but on Saturday it couldn't grab the lead until just past the game's midway point.

Throughout the opening stanza the Crimson attack couldn't get in gear, as the Engineers played a successful game of dump-the-puck-and-chase-it hockey.

RPI finally scored when center Adam Oates held the puck on a two-on-one, went around Grant Blair as the freshman goalie came out to cut down the angle, tucked the puck away.

But after the first intermission Harvard got the break it needed, when the line of Brian Busconi, Dave Burke and Rob Wheeler--previously inconspicuous on the scoring sheets--first tied the game and then put the Crimson ahead.

First Round Results

Friday, March 4

Harvard 5, RPI 1

Providence 2, Yale 1

UNH 3, BU 3

St. Lawrence 5, Clarkson 3

Saturday, March 5