"We're bigger this year, but we're not going to change our game plan," Cleary says. "We're still in there to skate and score."

Defense

At the start of last season, defense was a question. This year, all six of the defenders have seen some varsity action, but the Crimson doesn't have much depth. Gone are Josh Caplan and Nick Carone, two of last year's mainstays. Sophomores Kevin Sneddon and Brian McCormack never seemed to go through a rookie stage and should only be stronger with a year's experience. Sneddon is skating with classmate Richie DeFreitas, who filled in sporadically last winter, and McCormack pairs with senior Brian Popiel.

McCormack's big brother, Scott--who is actually a bit smaller than his 6-ft., 1-in., 195-1b. "little" brother--is hoping his senior season will be injury-free. Scott has suffered fom collarbone and wrist injuries the past two years and has yet to play in an NCAA playoff game.

1989-'90 Schedule Date  Opponent  Time Nov. 10  at Yale  7:30 Nov. 11  at Brown  7:30 Nov. 17  ARMY  7:30 Nov. 18  PRINCETON  7:30 Nov. 25  at RPI  7:30 Nov. 27  at Dartmouth  7:30 Dec. 1  at Colgate  7:30 Dec. 3  at Cornell  2:00 Dec. 8  at Vermont  7:30 Dec. 16  DARTMOUTH  7:30 Dec. 22  at Minnesota  7:30 Dec. 23  at Minnesota  7:30 Jan. 5  CLARKSON  7:30 Jan. 6  ST. LAWRENCE  7:30 Jan. 12  YALE  7:30 Jan. 13  BROWN  7:30 Feb. 2  at Princeton  7:30 Feb. 3  at Army  7:30 Feb. 5  Northeastern*  TBA Feb. 9  CORNELL  7:30 Feb. 10  COLGATE  7:30 Feb. 12  Beanpot*  TBA Feb. 16  VERMONT  7:30 Feb. 17  RPI  7:30 Feb. 23  at St. Lawrence  7:30 Feb. 24  at Clarkson  7:30 * - at Boston Garden

A blessing from the hockey gods (a.k.a. theNCAA commission) has given back Scott's favoriteblueline buddy and the Crimson's biggest defensivethreat--All-ECAC defender Kevan Melrose--for thefirst half of the season. Melrose, whose fiveyears of collegiate eligibility ended last spring,was granted an extension and will play untilJanuary 13.

"Right now, with the experience we have,defense is really going to finish off a lot ofthings for us," Young said. "But overall teamdefense is the key. We have to work to put thingstogether as a team."

One area Harvard won't worry about for quite awhile is goal. The Crimson has not one, but two ofthe nation's top goaltenders in sophomores AllainRoy (.912 save percentage, 2.52 goals-againstaverage) and Chuckie Hughes (.906, 2.79). Roy wasthe netminder named to the NCAA tourney teamwithout even playing in the finals. Hughes, thesmallest player on last year's team, provedhimself to be the hardest to miss with his on-andoff-ice antics. Hughes followed up aheart-stopping performance in the Beanpotsemifinals by holding court in the Boston Gardenlocker room--then gave another unforgettableperformance on the 11 o'clock news.

The competition between Roy and Hughes isfierce, but its more for bragging rights than thestarting spot. Cleary followed a strict two-manrotation last season and has so far seen no reasonto change his tactics.

"As they always say," according to Cleary, "'Ifit ain't broke, don't fix it.'"

That theory applies to Cleary's five-forwardpower-play set as well. Donato and Vukonich willplay at point, with Ciavaglia, Weisbrod and Youngup front. Last year, Harvard converted 26 percentof all its power plays and was even better onpenalty kills (15 percent).

"It's hard to tell [how this year's Crimsonwill perform] until I see them against someoneelse," Cleary says. "I think the guys are gettinga little tired of looking at each other."

They'll get to look at the Elis in New Haventonight--and they'll be looking at the inside of abus for much of the next few months. This season'sschedule puts Harvard on the road for eight of its11 games before winter break. The pay-off? TheCrimson will be home throughout January readingperiod