When Harvard Men's Hockey Coach Clark Hodder '25 sat down to assess the state of his struggling team on March 5, 1941, there wasn't a whole lot he could do. Back in those days, there was no NCAA tournament, no ECAC and no Beanpot. An Ivy League title was out of the question since Harvard, 2-8-1 at the time, would play only one more game before the season expired.

Fifty-seven years later, the Crimson (2-8-1, 0-8-1 ECAC) finds itself with a similar record but in a much different predicament. Two home losses last weekend--a 2-1 setback Friday against Clarkson and a 5-1 defeat the next evening at the hands of St. Lawrence--leave Harvard in the midst of a downward spiral rivaled only by that disastrous team of 1940-41. CLARKSON  2 HARVARD  1 ST. LAWRENCE  5 HARVARD  1

But unlike Hodder's bunch, the present team has to do more than just close the books and wait for next year--over half of the season's games remain.

"I don't have any answers," said sophomore defenseman Graham Morrell after Saturday night's loss. "We have to think about these games, but eventually we have to forget about them and refocus. Everybody needs to figure out what they bring to the table."

On Friday night, Harvard played a surprisingly close game against Clarkson (5-6-0, 3-2-0 ECAC). Although the Golden Knights were able to eke out a victory, the Crimson played a tightchecking game throughout and on multiple occasions came close to tying it up.

But against St. Lawrence (8-4-0, 4-1-0 ECAC), whatever intensity Harvard had the night before seemed largely spent. A series of defensive errors led to a storm of second-period goals which gave the Saints a 4-0 lead and enough momentum to crush the Crimson's flagging morale for good.

"We looked like a completely different team from [Friday] night," said Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni after the game.

Clarkson 2, Harvard 1

Playing at home for the first time in five games, the Crimson began the game playing inspired hockey. Predictably the Golden Knights, with their big, burly starting lineup, utilized an aggressive forecheck and backcheck to intimidate the slightly smaller Crimson team.

But Harvard battled through and answered with an aggressive checking system of its own, generating a few quality scoring chances. Only five minutes into the period, Harvard went on the power play and put Clarkson goalie Shawn Grant to the test. A flurry of shots left the puck in the crease, but no one could knock it in.

"I think we caught them off-guard in the first period because we were playing pretty physically," said freshman forward Jeff Stonehouse.

About 10 minutes later, however, the Crimson finally found the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead. Stonehouse found a breakaway and skated down the left side, drawing away a Golden Knights defender. He took a quick shot that Grant blocked, but the puck took a fortuitous bounce and landed in front of senior forward Rob Millar.

Millar, who had streaked down behind Stonehouse and was dragging a Golden Knights defenseman with him, was able to get a stick on the puck and send it home at 14:53.

It was Millar's first goal of the season.

"I saw Rob coming down behind me and so I took the shot. When you get a shot on net, anything can happen," Stonehouse said.

For the rest of the period, the Crimson defense, helped by the stellar goaltending of sophomore Oliver Jonas, kept the Golden Knights scoreless. The Crimson's penalty killing unit looked especially sharp, neutralizing a potentially dangerous 4-on-3 Golden Knights advantage late in the period.