Harvard men's hockey Captain Scott Fusco watched his team play Colgate from the press box of Bright Center last night.

The rest of the Crimson skaters had even better seats.

In front of 2212 somnambulant fans. only Crimson goalie Grant Blair played up to par.

And lucky for the icemen, par for Blair is the kind of gutsy 40-save performance that can carry a team to victory.

"Thank God," was all Harvard Coach Bill Cleary said after Blair shutout Colgate, 2-0, in the first game of the ECAC quarterfinals.

Tonight at 7:30 p.m., the two teams meet again at Bright to decide the series. If the Crimson (now 20-6-1) wins or ties, it advances to the conference semi-finals Friday at the Boston Garden. If the Red Raiders win, the two teams will play a 10-minute mini-game tonight following the third period.

"He was all alone out there at times," Cleary said of his star netminder who lowered his nation-leading goals-against average to 2.58. "He should have sued for non-support."

"Blair made the big, key saves to win it," Colgate Coach Terry Slater said.

Blair notched his ninth career (and first playoff) shutout with the victory and became the third Harvard netminder--following Godfrey Wood in 1962 and Wade Lau in 1982--in history to record an ECAC Tournament shutout. It was the 13th whitewash in the 25 years of the tourney.

Blair, who recorded only one playoff shutout in three years of junior hockey, was bothered by the flu last night, but he still managed to turn in one of his finest performances of the year, upping his save percentage to over .905.

The Crimson extended its winning streak over the Raiders to seven straight and upped its home unbeaten skein to 15.

"I think we suffer from retroactive inhibition," Slater said. "We can't seem to beat Harvard at home."

Last night, Colgate came very close. The Raiders employed an odd strategy, leaving a wing up ice and starting their breakouts from behind their own net, but Harvard's biggest problem was Harvard.

"We sat there and watched," Cleary said. "They beat us to the puck all night long, we didn't cover anyone and we didn't check anyone."

The Crimson got on the board early with a quick goal and notched a soft score late in the first period. After that it was just a waiting game.

Blair was up to the task, notching 29 saves in the final two periods to keep his teammates in the game.

"He threw a no-hitter out there," sophomore Andy Janfaza said.

The Crimson started things off when Ed Krayer picked up the puck in back of the Colgate net and tossed to the left point, where Jerry Pawloski fired it on net. Tim Barakett tipped the shot past Colgate netminder Dan Delianedis and the Crimson had all the goals it would need.

Harvard struck again late in the first period. Lane MacDonald broke down the left wing, deked a defender at the blue line and worked his way in on Delianedis from a tight angle. His shot from 15 feet out somehow found the back of the twine and Harvard was up by two.

Early in the second period, the Crimson enjoyed a 5-on-3 for 1:32 but was unable to put the puck in. The power play was operating without Fusco and while it retained some of its previous movement, its penchant for finding the little red light switch was missing.

Although the Crimson went 0-for-4 on the power play, the extra-man unit was one of the strongest aspects of the team's play.

THE NOTEBOOK: In other ECAC quarterfinal action, Cornell topped Vermont, 8-3, in Ithaca, N.Y., Yale beat St. Lawrence, 6-5, in New Haven, Conn., and Clarkson upset RPI, 3-1 in Troy, N.Y. All series resume tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Crimson, 2-0 at Bright Center Colgate (15-14-2)  0  0  0--0 Harvard (20-6-1)  2  0  0--2

First Period--1, H, Tim Barakett 18 (Jerry Pawloski, Ed Krayer) 2:21; 2, H, Lane MacDonald 15 (Tim Smith, Allen Bourbeau), 16:29. Penalties--MacDonald, H, (tripping) 5:30; Andy Janfaza, H, (tripping), 18:24; Harold Duvall, C, (slashing), 20:00.

Second Period--No scoring. Penalties--Paul Jenkins, C, (high stick), 0:28; Rob Ohno, H, (roughing), 8:29; Mark Benning, H, (holding), 14:43.

Third Period--No scoring. Penalties--Jenkins, C, (tripping), 5:26; Steve Armstrong, H, (high stick), 7:49; Mike Bishop, C, (holding), 9:38.

Saves--C, Dan Delianedis 2-13-7--22; H, Grant Blair 11-17-12--40.

A--2212