The sixth-ranked Boston College Eagles dropped in on Bright Center last night. For Hockey East's top team, it was stop number 12 on a 38-game regular season grind.

For the eighth-ranked host Crimson, it was game number five on the more modest 25-game ECAC plan.

After three regulation periods and 10 minutes of sudden-dead, overtime, neither team--and--neither league--had proved itself the better.

The 4-4 tie proved that great Eastern College hockey is alive and kicking, despite the ECAC-Hockey East fracture, and that when these two teams meet in the first round of the Beanpot in February, sparks should fly again.

Give credit to B.C. (8-3-1). The Eagles played with freshman backstop David Littman (26 saves), and the Cranston, R.I. native shined in his Division I debut--growing more confident as the game wore on, despite facing the wrath of 3350 partisans.

Give credit to Harvard (3-1-1,3-1 ECAC). The Crimson, listless in its first four contests, finally, found itself. "We've been missing that oompl.," Harvard Coacl, Bill Cleary said, "We found it today".

Senior goaltender Grant Blair led the way, notching a 45-save effort that was easily his best of the young season.

"In the first four games, I was putting too much, pressure on myself," the Crimson's all-time save leader said. "I'm a stand-up goalie, I can't be tight and thinking out there".

In the early going, it wasn't Blair but Littman who needed to relax. After posting a 31-save shutout of Division H Holy Cross, the freshman was facing his first major test.

Just two and a half minutes into the game, sophomore Allen Bour-beau welcomed Littman to major college hockey, tipping home a blast from the point off the stick of freshman Josh Caplan. The second assist went to wing Tim Barakett, who dug the puck out of the corner to set up Caplan's shot.

Thirty-two seconds later, Steve Armstrong got a pretty feed from Rob Ohno and came in alone on the freshman netminder. Littman drifted to the near post and Armstrong beat him with, a hard, low shot to the far side.

"I was coming down, looked up and saw I had a lot to shoot at," the sophomore said.

The Eagles struck back at 11:28, when Chris Stapleton stuffed home a backlander, but despite 20 shots, that's all the visitors could get past Blair in the opening period.

Before the Lorn, the Crimson had a minute-and-a-half two-man-up opportunity, but B.C. staved off the challenge to hold the Crimson to its one-goal lead.

Seven and a half minutes into the second period, Crimson defenseman Jerry Pawloski got the third Harvard goal and his first career tally--in his 37th game.