You can often tell how well the Harvard men's hockey team is doing by the lengths of the players' beards.

Right now, they're becoming thick, so that means good news for Harvard (12-19-1), who faces top-seeded Vermont (25-5-4) in the first semifinal of the ECAC Tournament at Lake Placid, N.Y. today at 4 p.m. Cornell (19-8-4) will battle Clarkson (24-7-3) in the other semifinal.

The Crimson, the sixth seed in the tournament, played its best hockey of the season last weekend when it eliminated the third seed, St. Lawrence, at Canton, N.Y. Harvard snapped a nine-game losing streak last Friday with a 5-2 win, lost Saturday by a 3-2 count and then came back to take the decisive third game in an 8-4 blowout.

The long losing streak suddenly became a distant memory.

"Even though we lost nine games in a row, it was weird because everyone [on the team] thought we had a good shot of going to Lake Placid and winning," said sophomore Henry Higdon, who scored five goals against St. Lawrence and who now leads the Crimson with 16 goals scored.

The last time Harvard was skating at the 1980 Olympic Arena, the players were taking a victory lap around the same ice surface where the U.S. 'Miracle on Ice' took place in the 1980 Olympics.

Harvard had shut out Rensselaer in the final, 3-0, and it would go all the way to the NCAA Final Four where it lost to eventual NCAA champion Lake Superior State in overtime, 3-2.

Last year, Rensselaer eliminated Harvard in the quarterfinal round, preventing the Crimson from defending its crown.

"My first two years I went [to Lake Placid] and thought it was what you were supposed to do," senior defenseman Peter McLaughlin said. "Last year we got knocked off, so I'm not taking it for granted."

The last time Harvard faced Vermont in an ECAC Tournament game was back in 1989--Harvard's NCAA championship season. The result, however, was a stunning 3-2 overtime victory by the Catamounts in the semifinals. The Crimson would not lose another game that year.

Obviously, the stakes are much different for Harvard this weekend. With its losing record, the Crimson must win today's game and then tomorrow afternoon's final to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

And beating the Catamounts is something very few teams have done this year, as Vermont is on an eight-game winning streak and 11-game unbeaten one (10-0-1). Harvard came close in January, jumping out to a two-goal lead, but Vermont would win the contest in overtime, 3-2.

Two weeks ago, in the rematch in Burlington, Vermont went on top by two goals early and held off a Harvard squad that dominated the rest of the game.

"They were both very close games and I think we outplayed them in both," McLaughlin said. "They're a great team to beat, and they're ripe to be beaten."

Vermont has few weaknesses. If there's any edge Harvard has going in, it is its experience. No Catamount player has ever made it to the Final Four, while Harvard has been there two of the last three years.

Also, the pressure is on top-rated Vermont, as few people picked Harvard to get this far. So the Crimson enters today's contest with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

"We feel extremely confident," sophomore defenseman Jeremiah McCarthy said. "We had a great weekend last weekend and want to build on that."

The Catamounts are loaded both offensively and defensively, and most notable are their dynamic duo--Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin.

What makes them so dangerous is not only their speed, but also their knowledge of where each other is on the ice.

Perrin and St. Louis, who have played together since they were kids growing up in Quebec, are the top two ECAC scorers with 76 and 75 points, respectively.

Their linemate--J.C. Ruid--isn't too shabby either. He has scored a mere 28 goals and 22 assists.

If these players gain any open ice--and they have more chances to do that at the Olympic-sized ice surface--Harvard senior goalie Tripp Tracy will have to be at his sharpest to stop the shots of these marksmen. Tracy put forth his best weekend of the season at St. Lawrence, stopping 101 of 110 shots and keeping the Crimson alive early in the first two contests.

The other main aim for the Crimson is to find a way to put the puck behind Catamount goalie Tim Thomas. Powered by Thomas and a bruising defense, Vermont posted the top defensive stats during the regular season. Thomas himself is 24-5-4 with a 2.36 goals against average, the best in the ECAC.

However, if Harvard's four lines can sustain the same type of offensive pressure on Thomas as they did on St. Lawrence goalie Clint Owen, then the players have a solid chance at winning today and giving their razors an extended vacation.

"We were looking for anything to change our luck, and we beat the number-three team in the league," McCarthy said. "Some people can grow a great beard, but personally, I'm growing an awful one."

It might not be pretty, but the players will gladly sacrifice their looks for wins'. 1995-96 HARVARD STATS Players  GP  G  A  Pt  PP  PM Brad Konik  29  11  26  37  2  16 Kirk Nielsen  29  12  15  27  3  36 Henry Higdon  28  16  10  26  6  19 Tommy Holmes  28  6  17  23  2  14 Jason Karmanos  32  8  13  21  0  24 Craig Adams  32  8  9  17  4  38 Craig MacDonald  32  7  10  17  5  10 Jerimiah McCarthy  30  3  11  14  1  18 Ben Storey  31  2  10  12  1  44 Rob Millar  18  6  5  11  2  0 Ashlin Halfnight  28  2  9  11  0  12 Stuart Swenson  32  4  6  10  0  32 Ethan Philpott  32  5  4  9  1  37 Peter McLaughlin  29  2  6  8  1  24 Mike Bent  13  5  2  7  4  4 Joseph Craigen  32  4  1  5  0  16 Ethan Oberman  30  0  5  5  0  18 Clayton Rodgers  12  2  1  3  0  14 Marco Ferrari  20  0  3  3  0  10 Geb Marett  8  2  0  2  0  8 Brian Famigletti  17  0  2  2  0  6 Doug Sproule  11  1  0  1  0  6 Geordie Hyland  21  0  1  1  0  16 Brian Adams  1  0  1  1  0  4 Jason Sutherland  1  0  0  0  0  0 Harvard  32  106  168  274  32  426 Opponents  32  109  173  282  35  453 Goalie  GP  W  L  T  GAA  Sv% Tripp Tracy  28  9  17  1  3.25  ..886 Peter Zakowich  6  3  2  0  3.87  ..876

1995-96 VERMONT STATS Player  GP  G  A  Pt  PP  PM Eric Perrin  34  27  49  76  6  36 Martin St. Louis  31  23  52  75  4  34 J.C. Ruid  33  28  22  50  11  87 Matt Stelljes  34  7  14  21  1  38 Matt Johnson  33  11  10  21  5  16 Dale Patterson  33  6  13  19  3  40 Eric Lavoie  34  3  13  16  0  20 Jan Kloboucek  34  6  10  6  4  44 Phil Eboli  27  8  5  13  0  26 Steve Mckell  34  1  10  11  0  36 Eroc Hallman  34  4  6  10  1  46 Jonathan Sorg  33  4  4  8  0  37 Simon Tremblay  34  1  6  7  1  36 Stephane Piche  33  3  4  7  0  16 Jason Hamilton  33  2  2  4  0  16 Pavel Navrat  34  2  1  3  0  22 B.J. Kilboume  26  0  2  2  0  14 Justin Martin  27  1  0  1  0  18 Eric Lundini  25  0  1  1  0  8 Matt Walter  3  0  1  1  0  0 Shaun Hakala  2  1  0  1  0  10 Alek Roomet  1  0  0  0  0  0 Vermont  34  138  225  363  36  606 Opponents  34  81  133  214  31  636 Goalie  GP  W  L  T  GAA  Sv% Tim Thomas  33  24  5  4  2.36  .923 Nolan McDonald  3  1  0  0  1.46  ..933 James Tiemey  3  0  0  0  1.52  .947