HONOVER, N.H.--In the NFL, teams with dangerous passing attacks, strong defense and limited penalties win games.

Last night, the Harvard men's hockey team showed that the same combination produces on ice.

The Crimson (2-3-1 overall, 2-3-1 ECAC), behind sophomore goaltender Allain Roy's 45 stellar saves, held off a third-period Dartmouth rally to ring up a 4-2 victory here at Thompson Arena in front of 2843 seemingly-disinterested spectators.

In the first two periods, Harvard passed crisply and stayed out of the "sin-bin" to sprint out to a 3-0 lead. Roy provided the defensive gems with a series of crucial stops.

In the final session, the Crimson's passing game disappeared. Worse, its penalty parade--the cause of many a Coach Bill Cleary headache this season--resumed, as the Big Green (2-2-1, 2-2-1) closed the margin to 3-2. But a John Murphy tally midway through the period clinched the defending national champions' second victory of the year.

"We almost self-destructed again," Cleary said. "It's just those penalties that are killing us."

Scorin' on Laurin

The first period was dominated by Roy and center Mike Vukonich, playing his third game since switching from wing. Roy kept the Big Green at bay, kicking, batting and sticking away shot after shot. And Vukonich beat Dartmouth goaltender Steve Laurin twice to give the Crimson a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

Three minutes into the game, Harvard wing Tim Burke slid a pass across the crease to Murphy at the right of the net. Murphy shrugged off a check and flicked a gift-wrapped feed back across the crease to Vukonich, who rammed a wrist shot between Laurin's pads.

Thirteen minutes later, Vukonich was the grateful recipient of another beautiful assist, this one by Tod Hartje. As a Big Green checker tried to ride Hartje off the puck, the versatile wing dropped a no-look, between-the-legs pass to a streaking Vukonich, who nailed a screamer past Laurin.

"At center, I have a lot more leeway," said Vukonich, who notched his fifth goal since moving to the middle. "At wing, I felt like I was forced to play one way. I'm much more comfortable at this position."

As Roy turned away a barrage of Dartmouth shots, the Crimson extended its lead midway through the second period.

Captain C.J. Young began the scoring play by threading the needle on a pass between three defenders to freshman Ted Drury. Drury's stuff attempt was saved by Laurin, but wing Jim Coady dumped the rebound right back to Drury, who lit the red for the winning goal.

Dudley Drille

But the Crimson had to endure a scare before recording the win. Minutes into the third period, Dartmouth defender Nate Dudley drilled a slapshot at Roy. The sophomore netminder got a stick on the bullet, but the puck dribbled over the line to cut Harvard's lead to two goals.