You can often tell how well the Harvard men's hockey team is doing by the lengths of the players' beards.

Right now, they're becoming thick, so that means good news for Harvard (12-19-1), who faces top-seeded Vermont (25-5-4) in the first semifinal of the ECAC Tournament at Lake Placid, N.Y. today at 4 p.m. Cornell (19-8-4) will battle Clarkson (24-7-3) in the other semifinal.

The Crimson, the sixth seed in the tournament, played its best hockey of the season last weekend when it eliminated the third seed, St. Lawrence, at Canton, N.Y. Harvard snapped a nine-game losing streak last Friday with a 5-2 win, lost Saturday by a 3-2 count and then came back to take the decisive third game in an 8-4 blowout.

The long losing streak suddenly became a distant memory.

"Even though we lost nine games in a row, it was weird because everyone [on the team] thought we had a good shot of going to Lake Placid and winning," said sophomore Henry Higdon, who scored five goals against St. Lawrence and who now leads the Crimson with 16 goals scored.

The last time Harvard was skating at the 1980 Olympic Arena, the players were taking a victory lap around the same ice surface where the U.S. 'Miracle on Ice' took place in the 1980 Olympics.

Harvard had shut out Rensselaer in the final, 3-0, and it would go all the way to the NCAA Final Four where it lost to eventual NCAA champion Lake Superior State in overtime, 3-2.

Last year, Rensselaer eliminated Harvard in the quarterfinal round, preventing the Crimson from defending its crown.

"My first two years I went [to Lake Placid] and thought it was what you were supposed to do," senior defenseman Peter McLaughlin said. "Last year we got knocked off, so I'm not taking it for granted."

The last time Harvard faced Vermont in an ECAC Tournament game was back in 1989--Harvard's NCAA championship season. The result, however, was a stunning 3-2 overtime victory by the Catamounts in the semifinals. The Crimson would not lose another game that year.

Obviously, the stakes are much different for Harvard this weekend. With its losing record, the Crimson must win today's game and then tomorrow afternoon's final to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

And beating the Catamounts is something very few teams have done this year, as Vermont is on an eight-game winning streak and 11-game unbeaten one (10-0-1). Harvard came close in January, jumping out to a two-goal lead, but Vermont would win the contest in overtime, 3-2.

Two weeks ago, in the rematch in Burlington, Vermont went on top by two goals early and held off a Harvard squad that dominated the rest of the game.

"They were both very close games and I think we outplayed them in both," McLaughlin said. "They're a great team to beat, and they're ripe to be beaten."

Vermont has few weaknesses. If there's any edge Harvard has going in, it is its experience. No Catamount player has ever made it to the Final Four, while Harvard has been there two of the last three years.