Dissatisfied with club hockey, Benning transfered to Harvard. As much as he has enjoyed the move to Cambridge, he still has fond memories of Notre Dame.

"The people I met there were some of the greatest people," he remembers. "I still keep in touch. I'd never say it was a waste of time."

Benning has found the transition from Notre Dame where he was an electrical engineering major, to Harvard, where he is a Psychology and Economics concentrator, exhuarating. He lives in Peabody Terrace with four fellow transfer students.

"They're all great guys," Benning says. "One guy played soccer at UCIA, one's a fencer, one's a musician and one's into the theater and singing and I'm the hockey player. I love the diversity of people here, they're so independent and do so much."

Another thing the newcomer has discovered at Harvard is the workload.

"Unfortunately I took five courses," he says. "I took five every semester at Notre Dame and I figured I could do the same here, but no."

On the ice, however, Benning has found success easy. Paired defensively with sophomore Randy Taylor, the junior has helped the Crimson power play achieve its astonishing success.

With 21 assists (and 23 total points) in his first twelve games, Benning is making quite an impression on the scoreboard as well.

"Mark knows when to pick his chances offensively," Harvard Coach Bill Cleary says. "He anticipates well."

"The points aren't as important as winning," Benning says. "Being the number one scorer on a losing team wouldn't be fun."

Since the Crimson's been winning, off to a 9-1-2 start after going undefeated in its first 10 games, Benning's very happy.

"I was given a chance by Coach Cleary and Coach Tomassoni," he says. "They've been great and showed me the ropes.

The power play, hitting at an unreal 46 percent, has been the key to Benning's success--and the key to the Crimson's success.

"Our power play has really worked well," Benning says. "'Lot of it is what you do in practice. Every single practice we work on the power play for at least 20 minutes.

"It's neat, we know when we step on the ice, from all the practice, we have a chance to score. It motivates you."