First-Place Icemen Subdue Colgate, 2-1

The Harvard men's hockey game against Colgate Saturday night had one defining element.

Defense--all defense.

All the goals were scored within a span of four minutes, and no team tallied for the last 38:17.

Colgate managed a scant 13 shots (two in the second period).

And neither team connected on a total of 11 power plays.

It was that type of game. Through physical defense, Harvard managed to outlast Colgate, 2-1, and emerge with its first win in four games.

"I just thought it was a heck of an effort defensively," Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "We allowed Colgate only 12 shots, and we shut down their power play. It's a real achievement."

Harvard sophomore defender Sean McCann, who played a leading role on the blue-line this weekend, agreed with Tomassoni's assessment.

"It was a strong effort on everyone's part. We weren't wasting time in the other end. Everyone, including the forwards, was getting back," McCann said.

Perhaps the most immediate concern for Harvard, however, was the absence of the offense for the third game in a row.

The Crimson couldn't connect on five power play chances and looked dangerously out of the loop for parts of the game.

"We were a little tired coming out," junior forward Steve Flomenhoft said. "One concern we have to have is scoring. We have to think about crashing in and putting all our shots on net. Improving our special teams play is key."

Colgate, for its part, performed superbly in keeping Harvard away from the net.

"We really worked hard to play good defense tonight," Colgate Coach Brian Durocher said. "It's our achilles heal. We slipped up a little on the first goal."

The win pushed Harvard's record to 12-4-6 overall, 11-1-6 ECAC, putting Harvard in sole possession of first place (28 points) in the conference.

St. Lawrence, which was humbled 4-3 by Renssellaer Saturday, is in second with 27 points. Colgate dropped to 11-14-1 overall, 8-10-0 ECAC to keep it in eighth place.

Harvard began the game the way it did the night before: sluggish and tentative. But as the game progressed, the Crimson picked up its pace.

By period's end, Harvard picked up two goals after pelting Colgate goalie Shawn Murray with 13 shots.

At 18:16 freshman forward Brad Konik fed sophomore Chris Baird on the right side. Racing in, Baird shot into the right corner, collected the rebound off Murray's pads and punched the puck into the net.

Only 49 seconds later, freshman forward Perry Cohagen (who played tremendously during the weekend) tipped in McCann rebound in front of the net to put the Crimson up 2-0.

Colgate responded quickly in the second period when junior forward Craig deBlois broke in free on the right side and flicked the puck past Hughes.