It entered the New Year facing four crucial league contests and with two already by the wayside, the Harvard men's hockey team is barely breaking even.

The Crimson (5-8-2, 5-4-1 ECAC) dropped one of two games last weekend, making the upcoming New York trek that much more important.

"It was two points and obviously we want every two points right now," said Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni after his team lost to Vermont, 4-3 on Saturday. "No way is this a knockout by any means. There is too much of the season left."

That rest of the season starts tonight when Harvard takes on RPI (8-7-1, 3-4-1) in Houston Field House. The Engineers are arguably one of the best teams in the nation, but they have yet to unearth consistency.

What else is there to say about a team that has the ability to crush a team--Dartmouth--by six goals one night only to lose to another--Clarkson--by 11 the next?

Most problematic for the Crimson will be the dynamic line of Eric Healey, Alain St. Hilaire and Matt Garver who have combined for 34 points in 16 games this season. Combine that with the fact that sophomore goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo will miss yet another weekend of play due to mononucleosis, and the lock on the floodgates begins to rattle.

"RPI is one of the most dangerous teams in the league," said freshman defenseman Graham Morrell. "They have a lot of offensive talent and we are definitely going to have to be on top of our game."

Luckily for Harvard, RPI is coming off a mediocre weekend series as well. The offensive powerhouse was held in check as it lost to Yale (2-4) on Friday and then to Princeton the next night in overtime.

Despite the two-game aberration, however, RPI has shown that it can string goals together and its 3.2 goals-per-game average is testament to that fact. Obviously if the Crimson continues its recent trend of mental lapses which have led to early deficits, the Engineers will feast.

"The big key is that we need to play three solid periods of hockey," Morrell said. "We've had a lot of two-and-a-half period games, but we haven't shown that we can show up and play three solid ones. If we can do that then I think that we can play with any team in the country."

A little less intimidating are the Union Skating Dutchmen. Not only is their name less than fear-inducing, but the Crimson's opponent tomorrow night also lacks offensive prowess. As a result third-year coach Stan Moore has reverted to a slower, trapping style of play.

This is nothing new to the Crimson, however, who had no problem breaking through the Union barrier last season as it took both contests, outscoring the Skating Dutchmen 7-2 in the process.

Unlike RPI, the Union strength lies between the pipes. Although he may not possess the best numbers in the league right now, senior goaltender Trevor koenig remains one of the best netminders in the ECAC.

Nonetheless, the Crimson is currently clinging to the third-place slot in the league, but with a three-week exam break looming in the near future, that position becomes extremely precarious.

"We're in decent shape and obviously we could have been in better shape with two wins [last weekend]," Tomassoni said. "I told the boys that we can't get down on ourselves; we have to keep our chins up and get two this weekend."