This Navy Goalie Takes it and Takes it

Navy goalie Joe Donnelly will take the Middies 10-9 NCAA first-round win over Harvard Wednesday afternoon at Ohiri Field.

He'll take his 18 saves. He'll take the key saves at the end of the game. He'll even take the nine goals he gave up.

He'll take it and pack it all in his regulation-sized duffle bag. A duffle bag marked up with Syracuse destination stickers and the NCAA Quarterfinals.

He'll take it because Joe Donnelly took a lot at Ohiri field. A lot of heat, that is. Heat compressed in the sticks of Crimson shooters.

"I give Harvard all the credit in the world," Donnelly said. "I haven't seen a team keep coming like that all year long. They have some great shooters. They just kept the pressure on me all day."

The third period was pressure-packed for Donnelly. Down 7-4, Harvard surged back to take the lead with shots that had Donnelly wishing he was back on a ship headed for the Pacific.

"I can honestly say that this is the first team that has beaten me from up top without a screen," said the shell-shocked goalie. "Those guys were just blowing the ball by me."

Missiles, missiles everywhere. And Joe Donnelly couldn't find the nearest submarine. He was taking the heat.

But he took it and took it. Now he's taking a plane to upstate New York.

Donnelly's save off a Mickey Cavouti shot late in the final period put the heat back on the Crimson. The Middie goalie sparked Navy's transition game. The transition led to the game-winning goal.

"We try to work at that all year long," Donnelly said. "As soon as you make the save, you're looking up for the transition right away, to get out quick and try to get that quick goal."

But Donnelly wasn't even close to friendly waters after the goal. Harvard still had some heat in its sticks. Donnelly had to take it.

With 49 seconds left in the game, Donnelly took it again. This time, it was Dave Kramer, who had previously blown the ball past the Middie goalie. This time, Donnelly took it and gave it right back. His save off Kramer's shot gave Navy control of the ball and control of the game.

"I knew that if I didn't save it, I couldn't come back to the bench," Donnelly said.

"[Joe] has had a great year," Navy Coach Bryan Matthews said. "This was not his best game of the year but he came up with some saves in the end when we needed them."

Like any other post-season game, the goaltending played a major role. Donnelly, after taking the heat for most of the second half, was a factor.

"We knew that he was a strong goalie," Harvard Coach Scott Anderson said. "We have a very strong goalie, too. It was clear at the beginning of this game that both coaches would have to plug away for offense and it would come down to the goaltending."

Wednesday, it came down to Donnelly. The Middie goalie encountered rough seas against the Crimson. But he didn't bail out. Now he's got a weekend pass to Syracuse.

He'll take it.