867-5309: Freshmen Lead the Way

Before the season began Harvard men's hockey Coach Mark Mazzoleni made the following prediction:

"This is a team this year that should not have to rely on the production of its freshmen. If you're relying on your freshmen, you're in a lot of trouble."

But after three freshmen combined for a total of five goals and five assists in three games, perhaps depending on the rookies for a little extra boost isn't such a terrible thing.

Especially when one of those freshmen netted the game-winning goal over Vermont last Saturday.

Forwards Dominic Moore and Brett Nowak and defenseman Aaron Kim bring depth and speed to already talent-laden roster. But no one expected the freshmen to become such potent threats so early in the season.

"As the season evolves, freshmen start to feel more comfortable and around Christmas time, nothing is new to them anymore," Mazzoleni said. "Their games start to peak at that time. I would expect that with this group."

If Mazzoleni doesn't expect this trio to hit their strides for another few months, I can't wait to see these guys after Christmas break.

In the season opener against Brown, Kim showed the most promise of the threesome, seeing enough ice time to rival the veterans.

Kim was also an important contributor to the power play and penalty kill, notching an assist on junior center Harry Schwefel's game-winning goal.

But this was only the beginning.

As one reporter said in the press box on Friday, "well, we've got ourselves a shootout here." How right he was.

Harvard racked up a total of 13 goals, more than half of which involved at least one of the three rookies.

With a performance reminiscent of his brother Steve's debut two years ago, the youngest Moore shocked everyone last weekend, netting three goals in Harvard's two victories.

Moore's first career goal was a thing of beauty, setting the stage for the Crimson's 7-2 domination over Dartmouth. Moore undressed the Big Green's defenseman Carl Desjardins, leaving Eric Almon unprotected between the pipes. A flawless back-hander caught Almon looking at Moore lit the lamp 1-0.

And Moore's second goal assured us that the Moore-Bala connection must be hereditary. Moore poked in a rebound off of junior winger Chris Bala's attempt.

A five-hole on Vermont's Andrew Allen broke a 3-3 tie, finishing Harvard's comeback and gave Moore his third goal of the weekend.

"He's pretty elusive. He's got real quick hands and protects the puck well," Mazzoleni said. Once he gets around the goaltender, he knows what to do. That isn't anything that anyone's taught him."

Nowak truly earned his title of ECAC/CCM Rookie of the Week, with five points on the weekend, including a secondary assist on senior defenseman Matt Scorsune's game-winning goal over Dartmouth.

Heralded by numerous recruiting services as the top prep school recruit in the country, Nowak's size and skill was expected to enhance the Crimson's offensive attack.

But two goals and three assists far surpassed everyone's expectations.

Nowak makes a nuisance of himself in front of the net, as he was able to direct home a shot from sophomore defenseman Peter Capouch at the point for his first career tally. Again hovering around the goal, late in the second Nowak chipped in a rebound.

Mazzoleni's system of working the puck down low and crashing the net complements Nowak's playing style perfectly. This worked equally well in the Vermont match-up.

Nowak and junior center Steve Moore got hammered working the puck low behind the net. The puck finally popped out to senior winger Brett Chodorow who easily took a wrist shot to tally another goal.

Thanks to the hard work and determination of its three rookies, the Crimson has earned its first 3-0 start since the 1993-94 season.

But if Mazzoleni's prediction is right, the best is yet to come.

Just wait until after Christmas.