Why is Bill Cleary smiling?

No, it's not because he was named ECAC Coach of the Year yesterday.

No, it's not because someone just announced a cure for baldness.

No, it's because Harvard is back in the Garden. And it's March, not February. It's time for the ECAC Tournament, not the Beanpot.

"Do we play here in February?" Cleary joked yesterday, "I don't think they schedule any games for us in February."

With its fourth-place Beanpot finish relegated to the bad memory file, the Crimson will face Clarkson tonight (9 p.m., WHRB broadcast) in the semifinals of the ECAC Tournament. Vermont and St. Lawrence will square off in the other game at 6 p.m.

The winners will advance to the tournament final (tomorrow, 9 p.m.)

Harvard, making its fourth-straight ECAC Final Four appearance, will be looking to capture its second-straight ECAC title, and its fifth overall. Meanwhile, Clarkson--which entered the tournament as the sixth seed, but upset Cornell last weekend in a quarterfinal series--will be looking for its second crown.

Harvard (20-8 overall) bested the Golden Knights (16-14-4) twice during the regular season. Both times, though, Harvard had to come from behind to win. In January at Bright Center, Clarkson slipped away to a 2-0 lead before succumbing, 5-3. Two weeks ago in Postsdam, N.Y., Clarkson pulled ahead 1-0, but surrendered three unanswered goals and fell, 3-2.

"They're not as talented a team as some of the Harvard teams in the past, but they work extremely hard and they are very well coached and very disciplined," Knight Coach Cap Raeder said.

Two years ago, the heavily-favored Crimson met the Knights in the ECAC semis. Clarkson's Luciano Borsato, who is still around, put in an empty-net goal in the game's final seconds to doom Harvard, 4-2.

This year, Harvard entered the tournament with a less-talented squad than the one it sported in 1986, but overcame RPI in two games in the ECAC quarterfinals last weekend. Come ECAC Tournament time, talent doesn't count for beans. Or Beanpots.

Hockey by-words--like hard work and cohesiveness--seem to have more importance.

"One quality is that we're a really tight and close-knit group," Harvard Captain Steve Armstrong said, "We have had a lot of tough games, and when it gets down to the third period and you look around at each other, you say, 'These are your best friends and guys you spend time with.' You want to go out there and you want to work hard and play well."

Clarkson's path to the ECAC semis came through the tortuous backroads of Ithaca, N.Y., where the Knights met Cornell in the quarters a week ago. The two clubs split a pair of playoff games, and then the Knights prevailed, 1-0, in a 10-minute mini-game that followed the end of the second game.