The Harvard men's hockey team embarked on a five game road trip on November 20 in search of its first ECAC win.

Three defeats, one tie, and an emotional--but non-division--5-3 victory over Boston University later, the Crimson is still yet to triumph over a divisional opponent.

The loss total is now six, spanning half of the conference.

Last-place Harvard (2-6-1, 0-6-1 ECAC) returns home this weekend to battle Clarkson (3-6-0, 1-2-0) and St. Lawrence (6-4-0, 2-1-0) and try to reverse its fortunes. Despite the welcome sight of Bright Hockey Center, Harvard will have to face two of the toughest teams in the league.

"We are not really pressing for wins yet," said junior defenseman Matt Scorsune. "However, we have to be very thorough to come out okay."

The Crimson enters this weekend in complete disarray, and the perennial division leader Golden Knights seem to finally have gotten on track after sweeping the two Boston teams last week--No. 5 Boston College and B.U.

The Saints have surprised many with its torrid start, when they won six of their first eight games, but they are looking to recover their winning ways after dropping their past two to the Beantown duo.

Harvard's first priority of the weekend will be tightening up its defensive zone coverage. The Crimson looked awful at times in its 7-4 loss Tuesday night to R.P.I. Harvard defenders could not match the speed of the Engineer wingers. Moreover, the blue-liners made poor puck-handling decisions resulting in turnovers in their own zone.

"We are confident in our system," said junior forward Trevor Allman. "However, we need to eliminate the mental breakdowns and lapses. We know what to do out there."

The Engineers's seven-goal output marked the fourth time this season an opponent has netted at least six goals.

Harvard has especially struggled in the first period, getting outscored 15-4.

"We have really been emotionally inconsistent out there," Allman said.

Clarkson will seek to add to Harvard's list of blowout defeats with a deep, fearsome attack led by fowards Eric Cole, Matt Reid, and Ben Maidment. Defensemen Philippe Roy and 6'3 215-pound Willie Mitchell provide a scoring threat from the blueline.

Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni has given sophomore backup goaltender Oliver Jonas the assignment of stoning the Golden Knight offense. Jonas played very well in Harvard's win at B.U. and tie against Brown. Junior starter J.R. Prestifilippo has a 5.08 goals-against average.

St. Lawrence boasts a highly efficient offense that has yet to overwhelm an opponent but manages to score enough to win. The Saints lost their all-time assists leader, Paul DiFrancesco to graduation. However, they have found adequate output from seniors Bob Prier and John Poapst and sophomore Erik Anderson. All three players average at least a point-per-game.