ST. PAUL, Minn.--The biggest goal in Harvard hockey history, and he missed it.

Coach Bill Cleary did not see forward Ed Krayer deposit the puck into the net with five minutes gone in overtime to give Harvard a 4-3 victory over Minnesota Saturday in the finals of the NCAA tournament.

"I never saw it," Cleary said. "I saw the puck bouncing in front. I saw Eddie Krayer coming out of a pile. Then one of these giants [a Harvard player] jumped up in front of me. I couldn't even see the red light."

But Cleary soon saw something he waited 19 years for--his team celebrating an NCAA title. He turned to his associate coach, Ronn Tomassoni.

"I looked at Ronn and I said, `Oh, baby.'"

Cleary, who became Harvard's coach in 1971, had taken teams to the NCAA finals twice--in 1983 and 1986--without winning. This time, Harvard beat back a fierce Minnesota team and a ferocious Gopher crowd to capture college hockey's biggest prize.

Harvard has appeared in five straight NCAA tournaments. But despite the Crimson's consistent excellence, it has failed to win the praise of coaches from the hotbed of hockey, the wild West. Eastern schools have always been viewed with mild disdain by their Western counterparts.

The East, according to the West, plays a tamer brand of hockey. In the West, according to the West, hockey is played at blistering speeds with big men who are unafraid of slamming into each other. The West, according to the West, is the best.

This year, Harvard had one of its best lineups. The Crimson had two players from the 1988 Olympic team, Lane MacDonald and Allen Bourbeau, on its first line. First-line right wing C.J. Young was a second-team All-America.

But Harvard's potent roster did not earn fear and veneration from the West's best and brightest.

Lake Superior State Coach Frank Anzalone, whose team fell to the Crimson in the quarterfinals, said Harvard would do all right in the Final Four only if it got favorable calls from the referees.

Michigan State Coach Ron Mason, whose team fell to Harvard in the semifinals, hinted his team lost because it had an off-night.

The sharpest insult came from an Easterner, Maine Coach Shawn Walsh. After Minnesota beat the Black Bears in the semifinals, Walsh proclaimed the Gophers the "team of the 80s." He lauded Minnesota's combination of "ability and class."

And Harvard?

"I haven't played Harvard," Walsh said.

So forget Harvard. Go Gophers.

For 75 minutes in Saturday's championship game, the Gophers went. But Krayer's goal stopped them. The best of the West was not good enough.

"This year, they can't say anything," Bourbeau said. "We beat everybody, the best from the West and the best from the East."

The 1989 NCAA final summarized Cleary's hockey philosophy. With less than a minute left in regulation, Cleary put his fourth line on the ice. Most coaches would not trust their last line in a situation like that. But early in his coaching career, Cleary made a point of skating all four lines--even at crucial points in the game. So with the game on the line, the Crimson's green line was on the ice.

The pressures of college hockey's biggest game could not change Cleary.

"We've won 31 games this year, skating four lines," Cleary said. "I've been skating four lines since 1975."

Harvard is only the third Eastern team to win the NCAA tournament since 1973. If there ever was a time for Bill Cleary to spill his cliches about Harvard's special brand of hockey, it was Saturday. It was the perfect time to talk about the virtues of a skating team as opposed to a physical team. ("If you can't catch us, youcan't hit us.") It was the perfect time to talkabout the hockey world's anti-Harvard sentiments("Everyone wants to get the Johnnies.") Instead,Cleary gave a season valedictory.

"I'm delighted we did it," he said. "I thinkit's great for the program, I think it's great forall these youngsters."

And great for the coach.

There is little Cleary has not accomplished inhis hockey career. As a player at Harvard, hescored 89 points in the 1954-55 season, still aHarvard record. He led the Olympic team to asilver medal in 1956 and a gold medal in 1960. Hecoached teams to ECAC and Beanpot tournamentchampionships. And now, he has won the NCAA title.

Cleary has never been shy with his smile.Thanks to a goal he did not see, he can wear itall year long