"No one wants to play it, but as long as it's there you've got to play it and play it to the best of your ability." --Harvard men's hockey Coach Bill Cleary.

DETROIT--The "it" to which Harvard men's hockey Coach Bill Cleary referred was the NCAA "third place game"--better known as a consolation contest--which took place in Detroit on March 28.

A 5-2 dispatch at the hands of eventual national champion North Dakota two nights earlier had landed the Crimson in this contest, and Harvard was then faced with a pair of awesome responsibilities.

Not only did the team need to defeat WCHA runner-up Minnesota in order to salvage a victory from its spring vacation in Detroit, but it also had the duty of keeping awake the 1500 disappointed fans who would have greatly preferred watching their team play in the "first place game" later that evening.

The Crimson, however, did little to make the afternoon worthwhile, as it suffered a 6-3 shellacking by the Golden Gophers--Harvard's worst defeat in over two years.

The first indication that this would not be a typical game for the Crimson came even before the opening face-off. Taking the place in the starting line-up of the five players who had led Harvard to the brink of a national championship were third-line forwards Tod Hartje, Pete Chiarelli and Craig Taucher, and defensemen Jerry Pawloski and Butch Cutone.

The other interesting twist to the afternoon's pre-game ceremonies was the absence of two key players from the Crimson's roster.

That Mark Benning's name wasn't there was understandable. The All-America defenseman had partially separated his shoulder in previous playoff action, and there was no reason to further aggravate the injury in a meaningless game.

But the fact that Nick Carone's name was missing was more intriguing. Apparently Cleary was disciplining the junior forward for taking what many felt was an unnecessary penalty in the third period of the North Dakota game.

Despite the absence of these players, Harvard managed relatively well for the first 21 minutes of action. Lane MacDonaled tied the score at 1-1 at 1:02 of the second period when he slapped a shot past Minnesota goalie Robb Stauber off the power play.

Life After Losing

But then Harvard fell apart, as the Gophers tallied five times in 13 minutes.

Five different Minnesotans scooted even-strength goals past Harvard goalie John Devin in that nightmarish second period, and when it was over, so was Harvard's season.

"Minnesota played a fine game," Cleary said, "especially in that second period--we might as well have stayed home."

Taucher netted a goal in the second period, and C.J. Young added his ninth tally of the playoffs in the final stanza to close out the scoring for the season.

"It's unfortunate that the real Harvard hockey team didn't show up this weekend," Cleary said of his squard's pair of tourney losses. "It's too bad, but it's still not going to diminish the great season we had."