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Like last year, the expectations of the Harvard men's hockey team have dropped as a result of a season-long series of disappointments.

Back when the fiasco began, last November, first-year Coach Ronn Tomassoni had the lofty hope of winning the ECAC championship. A return-trip to St. Paul, Minn. for the NCAA Championships was at the back of the young coach's mind.

But like his predecessor--now-Athletic Director Bill Cleary-- hard luck hit Tomassoni faster than a Mike Vukonich slap shot. And as Cleary did during the Season After, Tomassoni reduced his aims during this Season After the Season After to the modest achievement of winning home ice for the first round of the ECAC playoffs.

Cleary didn't achieve that goal. Last year's season of gloom ended at Lynah Rink at Cornell, as the Big Red swept Harvard on successive nights. losing in Ithaca, N.Y. for the first time since the 1983-4 season.

Tonight's The Night

If recent history is to be denied, this weekend's road games at Rensselaer tonight and Vermont Saturday are the means. Events do not favor the Crimson, who have been abysmal-discounting the Cornell tie game--on the road this season. Having managed road wins only over lowly Dartmouth, whom has not won a league game, and assistant cellar-dweller Army, home ice has taken on immense importance.

"The whole goal is to finish at home," Tomassoni said. "Obviously, Friday night is the big game because [Rensselaer] is two points ahead of us. But if you look at the standings, Vermont is only two points behind us."

The Engineers

Rensselaer (17-9 overall, 12-6 ECAC) currently sits in fourth place in the league--the cutoff point for first-round home ice--and one win ahead of fifth-place Harvard (10-10-2, 10-6-2). An Engineers win would clinch a fourth-place finish (and home ice) for Rensselaer--assuming they beat the Big Green the next night--and would just about put the nail in the coffin for Crimson home-ice hopes.

The Engineers ended a four-game Crimson win streak on December 8, when Bruce Coles assisted Joe Juneau to lift Rensselaer, 8-7, in overtime at Bright Center. Those two forwards are the players that the Harvard defense must shut down.

But Juneau (22-35-57), Rensselaer's leading scorer, is a legitimate Hobey Baker candidate, leading the nation with 2.478 points-per-game. Coles (20-25--45) leads the ECAC in penalty minutes (121) and has traditionally given the Crimson trouble with his goon-like play.

"We're going to hopefully play our game and pin the puck in their zone," said Tomassoni, a 1980 graduate of Rensselaer. "The more the puck is in their zone, the less effective Joe Juneau will be."

Allain Roy will start between the twines for the Crimson tonight, while classmate Chuckie Hughes gets the nod against Vermont.

What's a Catamount?

The Catamounts (13-11-2, 9-7-2) are not a guaranteed two points for Harvard, as the Crimson's 8-2 victory over Vermont on December 7 might indicate. Vermont, in sixth-place, is only one win behind Harvard and could overtake the Crimson if Tomas- soni's hard luck continue.

Ironically, the Vermont game will pit a poor road team against a poor home team. The Catamounts are a paltry 4-8-1 at rocking Gutterson Fieldhouse.

Vermont's big gun is Captain John LeClair (19-17-36). The senior forward returned from injury last season to almost singlehandedly beat Harvard, 3-2, in an overtime thriller in Burlington, Vermont.

The heat is on for the Crimson. And overlooking Monday night's JV-game against Northeastern, the question is whether Harvard can be the relatively hot road team that it was during two ties last weekend with Colgate and first-place Cornell.

"I think we really became a team last weekend," Tomassoni said