A traditional post-game speech wouldn't do. Bowling Green Coach Jerry York couldn't tell his players to forget about it, sleep it off.

York could not say, "It's a new game tomorrow."

Mark My Words

He and his team had a face the peculiar reality of the NCAA quarterfinals. They fell to Harvard, 7-1, last night at Bright Center. Tonight, the Falcons are six down with 60 minutes to go.

For Bowling Green, the total-goals nightmare is only half over.

"It's half-time and the Falcons need a touchdown to win.

"It's a strange situation," York said. "We'll just have to take each period one at a time. We're looking at that first period [of today's game]. If we score three goals, it's a new game."

No, it's Harvard 7, BG 4. The Falcons need a three-point shot. They need to throw the bomb.

Creeping back goal by goal into the game against Harvard won't be easy. The Crimson has given up only seven goals once this year. And in that game--against Boston College, in February--the Crimson scored six times.

"We're aware of how difficult it's going to be," York said. "But we're not going to jump off ship. We're down, so we're going to have to come out strong."

Harvard Coach Bill Cleary never liked the idea of a total-goals series. He believes each game should stand by itself. If it's a two-game series, then the winner should have to win two games. Or at least win one game and then a mini-game following the second contest, just like in the ECAC playoffs.

Total goals is simply unfair. Right, coach?

"I'm not complaining now," Cleary said.

After last night, both teams find themselves in unusual positions. The Falcons have to fly up a mountainside to catch the Crimson. Harvard has to worry about about falling down that same mountainside.

"I didn't expect us to have this kind of margin," Cleary said. "We're delighted to have it. They're a good team. It's a 120-minute game and I hope we can play with the same intensity.

"We have a tendency to get complacent when we have a lead," Harvard forward Tim Barakett said.

Complacency probably would not doom the Crimson tonight. Collapse, however, might.

"I remember when I was in junior high school," Crimson wing Lane MacDonald said, "and I was watching Wisconsin play Colorado College [in a league playoff]. Wisconsin was leading 8-1 after the first game and Colorado College came back to win the second night, 9-1."

The Crimson can't nest on its lead. The Falcons wouldn't stand for that. Instead, the home team must pretend that what the scoreboard says at the beginning of tonight's game--Harvard 0, Bowling Green 0--is true.

"We don't want to go defensive," Cleary said. "We want to continue to attack. We have to take advantage of what we do well--skate. Our plan is to use our speed because we certainly aren't going to run anyone over."

"We can't get comfortable," MacDonald said.

One team's comfort is another's anxiety. A six-goal deficit isn't something you like to sleep on. But after tonight's game, Bowling Green and Coach York will at least get satisfaction in the knowledge that it's over. Really.