If someone had told me that Harvard would come away from this weekend with a split, I wouldn't have been too disappointed. Right in the hunt for home ice, the Crimson's third-place standing gives Harvard a little breathing room.

However, I don't think anyone would have predicted two squandered leads and a 3-2 loss to Union, a mediocre team fighting for its playoff life.

"We had a chance to take a step on the league this weekend, but we lost that opportunity," rookie winger Tim Pettit said.

The Skating Dutchmen, looking to overcome a demoralizing 2-2 knot with conference bottom-feeder Brown--who has already bowed out of the playoffs for the seventh straight year--snapped the Crimson's two-game win streak with a gritty come-from-behind victory.

"I think it was perhaps the best 60 minutes of hockey we've played all season," Union coach Kevin Sneddon '92 said.

To Union's credit, the Dutchmen executed its game plan perfectly. Known for being a disruptive tam, especially through the neutral zone, Union took away Harvard's ability to play an open-ice game and forced the Crimson to adopt a dump-and-chase style to compensate.

"Our line always tries to work as hard as it can, but they put three guys across the blueline," Pettit said. "We just never ended up with the puck in the offensive zone. About three of four times we were able to cycle the puck and get it down low, but unfortunately those times were very few and far between."

Despite turning in a sub-par performance, Harvard still maintained the lead after two periods. Union capitalized on the Crimson's sloppy defensive tactics and equalized a 1-0 lead in the second period and a 2-1 lead in the third. The perservering Union squad then notched the game-winner at 7:38.