However, good recruiting has helped build the Skating Dutchmen into a competitive squad. Three Union players have already been named the ECAC Rookie of the Week--Troy Stevens (2-19-21, ECAC), Jay Prentice and current winner Chris Ford (14-9-23, ECAC), who has won it twice.
Harvard won a 2-0 squeaker in the first meeting between these two teams, as sophomore Aaron Israel picked up the shut-out.
Mike Gallant (31 saves against Harvard) has been solid in net despite a 5-8-1 league record. He has stopped 89.7 percent of all shots thrown at him and has a 3.68 GAA.
"Harvard is everyone else's biggest game of the year," Maguire says ." We have to be mentally tough."
ECAC Bits
Harvard's magic number for winning its third-straight ECAC regular-season crown is three points, so the Crimson could wrap up the title this weekend at home.
Harvard then travels to Clarkson and St. Lawrence next weekend to finish off the regular season.
The Crimson has already clinched home ice for the ECAC tournament quarterfinals on March 11-13. The semi-finals and finals will be played the following weekend at Lake Placid, N.Y.
Around the Nation
Harvard remains second in the national rankings, despite losing to Boston College and needing overtime to defeat lowly Dartmouth. However, top-ranked Michigan dropped a 5-1 decision to Michigan State, and number-three Boston University could only manage a 0-0 draw against struggling Maine.
If the NCAA tournament started today, Harvard would be the top seed in the Eastern Regional and Michigan would be ranked first in the Midwest. (The top-two seeds in each regional receive first-round byes.) The tournament starts March 25 at Albany, N.Y. and East Lansing, Mich.
The Harvard power play is tops in the nation, clicking at 33.6 percent . Israel has the best goals-against average (2.21), while senior Brian Farrell scored his seventh game-winning goal last Saturday to remain the nation's leader.
NCAA POLL 1. Michigan (28) 28-3-1 280 2. HARVARD 17-4-2 237 3. Boston U. 21-7-1 230 4. Lake Superior St. 20-9-4 169 5. Colorado College 20-9-3 147 6. Michigan St. 18-9-4 141 7. UMass-Lowell 18-6-7 93 8. Wisconsin 20-11-1 92 9. Minnesota 17-11-4 72 10. RPI 15-6-9 39
Compiled by the Troy (N.Y.) Record, with first-place votes in parentheses, records and total points.