Friday evening at Bright the Harvard Crimson edged the Big Green of Dartmouth 4-3. It was a game that featured some exciting bursts of hockey. In the end, Harvard was able to hold onto to their lead for victory. The match opened at a fast and furious pace. Gradually it slowed and by the end of the game it was pedestrian. Periodically both teams degenerated into a hooking clinic. Harvard, who had Oliver Jonas in goal, started the scoring when Doug Sproule (Harry Schwefel, Brice Conklin) whacked home one from a scrum in front of the DC net.

Brian Fleming (from Scott Peach) tied the match when he made a nice deflection on a shot from the point. At the beginning of the second, Harvard regained the lead when Chris Bala (Graham Morrell, Ben Storey) drilled his chance at the far post after receiving a splendid pass from Morrell. This chance and others were being created by the speed of Morrell who was penetrating the Big Green zone from his blue line position. Lovely goal!

Peach (from Fleming) tied the match at two for DC when his long blast from center ice found the lower corner of the net. That singular strike gave Dartmouth the momentum. Big Green took the lead when Jeremiah Buckley (from Dan Lehouiller, Ryan Chaytors) put in a rebound. The play developed from a face-off and the Crimson defense was guilty of backing in. Things seemed to be going DC's way when Harvard's Schwefel (Conklin) one-timed a chance as he cruised through the slot. Tim Stay (Steve Moore, Bala) won the match for Harvard when his pass/shot from the point founding netting.

There was no scoring in a slow third period. Harvard sat on its lead. Dartmouth couldn't come up with enough pressure to earn any points. At times, Dartmouth seemed a team with a lot of character, speed and attacking ideas. At other times, they seemed to caught get up in things beyond their control. The result was a squad that showed well, but could have done more if they had remained positive. The Dartmouth man of the match was the line of Jon Sturgis, Bob Cancelli and David Whitworth. They motored real well and their combined movement was super. Whitworth was particularly good off the puck and made some lovely passes. The line of Lehouiller, Chaytors and Buckley demonstrated tons of hustle and mucking. The defensive pairing of Peach and Ryan Poulton was exceptionally good. Poulton's reads and ability to intercept a play was excellent. Overall, I think we can expect more from this Big Green team. Harvard did just enough to win. The confidence level of the squad seems fairly high, as players were trying things and looking for chances. The Harvard man of the match was Morrell. The first-year defender used his quickness to stop plays in his zone. Morrell was also a large part of the attack as his skating and passing let him lead forays. His blue line partner Storey was a good counterpart that provided some exquisite defensive plays. Collectively they are holding the Crimson together at the back and pushing the team forward. Up front, the combination of first-years Bala and S Moore continued to show well. Bala was moving well and letting it rip. S Moore is playing some very intelligent hockey. Overall this was an important league triumph for Harvard.