Now the question becomes: who will stand between the twines for the Crimson as the ECAC season enters its final stretch?

Getting Up For The Big One: Northeastern goalie Tom Cole may have been cooking when he dived, snagged and blocked 51 Boston College shots, one save shy of the Beanpot record, in the Huskies' 5-3 loss Monday evening.

But Northeastern Coach Don McKenney's praise for his netminder was tempered by a large issue: whether or not Cole can sustain that high level of play in the Huskies' key games down the stretch.

"I definitely think that was his best game of the year," McKenney said. "He just has to make sure he can get up for the big game. [The B.C. game] was an exceptional performance. But I think Tommy has to work on being prepared even when he might not always be prepared."

A New Beanpot Record: The Harvard section of the Boston Garden looked empty and spiritless compared with the packed B.U., Boston College and Northeastern sections. Terriers fans wore over-sized painters caps emblazoned with what seemed to be the school motto--"We want more!" --and chanted affectionate words at the mute Harvard band. B.C. fans came decked out in tacky purple-and-gold rugby shirts. Even Northeastern fans waved banners to HARVARD MEN'S HOCKEY (10-9 overall, 10-6 ECAC) Player  GMS8  G  A  PTS  P/PM Peter Ciavaglia  19  20  29  49  0/0 Ted Donato  19  13  32  45  9/18 Mike Vukonich  19  26  18  44  8/16 Ted Drury  17  12  14  26  7/14 Steve Flomenhoft  19  9  8  17  15/30 Tim Burke  19  8  5  13  11/22 Scott Barringer  19  4  7  11  6/12 Sean McCann  19  2  9  11  28/56 Derek Maguire  16  2  9  11  6/12 John Weisbrod  5  2  8  10  4/8 Brian Farrell  19  3  6  9  4/8 Matt Mallgrave  17  2  7  9  5/10 Lou Body  18  1  5  6  3/6 Michel Breistroff  17  3  2  5  8/16 Jim Coady  19  2  3  5  12/24 Brian McCormack  19  0  5  5  9/18 Rich DeFreitas  12  0  3  3  7/14 Chris Baird  12  1  1  2  1/2 Kevin Sneddon  10  0  1  1  7/14 Chuckie Hughes  8  0  1  1  1/2 Mike Francis  4  0  1  1  0/0 Craig Miskovich  10  0  0  0  1/2 Allain Roy  10  0  0  0  2/4 David Kilpatrick  4  0  0  0  1/2 TOTALS  19  110  176  286  164/328 Opponents  19  71  109  180  162/356

Player  GMS  MP  W  L  T  SV  GA  GAA  SV% Allain Roy  10  576  5  5  0  236  34  3.54  .874 Mike Francis  4  211  2  1  0  90  9  2.56  .909 Chuckie Hughes  8  348  3  3  0  156  27  4.66  .852 TOTALS  19  1135  10  9  0  482  71  3.75  .872 Opponents  19  1141  9  10  0  514  110  5.78  .824

show loyalty to the Huskies hockey team, which is dead last in the Hockey East.

But the weak Harvard showing was no fault of Crimson Captain Ted Donato.

The Dedham native held 97 tickets for friends and relatives to come see the Harvard-B.U. game. Donato, who was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round of the 1987 draft, hopes to return to play many games in the Garden beyond next Monday's Beanpot consolation matchup against Northeastern