It's finally here. Turn on the Rocky anthem and buckle in because the Harvard men's hockey team is off to St. Lawrence for the quarterfinal round of the ECAC Tournament.

In light of the Crimson's recent nine-game losing streak, however, many Harvard hockey followers are finding it harder than usual to explode with excitement over the team's chances. Heck, even the St. Lawrence campus is taking the Crimson more lightly than usual.

"It really isn't that bad having to play Harvard," St. Lawrence senior Kevin Todd said.

Even though this is only the second time in the last 15 years that Harvard does not have home-ice advantage in the tournament, ofansshouldn't count the team out just yet. Despite the month-long winless streak, the Crimson has been playing solid hockey; it just can't seem to get that break.

Forgetting a moment about the lackluster performance at Dartmouth last Friday (a 5-1 loss), Harvard has blatantly outplayed some of the top teams in the league. In five out of the nine losses, the Crimson has outshot its opponents. And the fresh offensive faces of freshman Rob Millar and sophomore Henry Higdon have blossomed in recent games.

Millar went through an unbelievable five-game streak in February where he racked up six goals and five assists, while Higdon has been on an offensive rampage of his own, scoring both of Harvard's goals last weekend.

So what's the problem? The tandem of Millar and Higdon has not been able to carry the team's offensive load. Earlier in the year, the senior line of captain Brad Konik, Kirk Nielsen and Tommy Holmes produced Harvard's top three scorers, but they have not been contributing lately.

So far in 1996, the trio has collected only two goals. Since then, Harvard has posted a dismal 4-11-0 record.

Nonetheless, things are looking better for the Crimson. In its last outing--though it didn't win--the Crimson outplayed ECAC champion Vermont.

"I thought Harvard did a great job in the first two periods neutralizing us," Vermont head coach Mike Gilligan said. "Although the score was not indicative, I thought that they outplayed us in the first two [periods], and they can be a team to watch in the playoffs."

Harvard is going to need to play on all four cylinders this weekend. St. Lawrence boasts an impressive 10-3-2 home ice record and is led by captain Burke Murphy (54 points) and sophomore Paul DiFrancesco (52 points).

In paticular, Murphy will be a force to reckon with since he not only leads the nation in goals per game (32 netters in 32 games), but he also scored 11 out of his 23 league goals at home.

"We've had a good year, and we've got a chance to make it a great one," St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh said. "We've earned one of our goals in that we are home for the quarterfinals; now we'll take the rest one step at a time."

In the last clash of these two titans at Appleton Arena in December, Murphy tacked on a goal and an assist in the Saints' crushing 7-3 defeat of the Crimson.

The second meeting was a different story, although the end result was the same. Back in the friendly confines of Bright Hockey Center, Harvard bombarded St. Lawrence goaltender Clint Owen with 42 shots and almost overcame a 5-2 third period deficit before falling, 5-4.