Athlete of the Week: Oliver Jonas

When a Harvard men's hockey player fell on top of junior goaltender J. R. Prestifilippo in practice last Monday, spraining his shoulder, all eyes eventually trained toward the other end of the ice.

In a heartbeat, the responsibility of shutting down the ECAC's best offense, Rensselaer, switched to sophomore Oliver Jonas--who hadn't started since Feb. 8 and hadn't won since Jan. 3.

All Jonas did this past weekend was turn in one of the most clutch goaltending performances in recent Crimson history, nearly willing his team to advance to Lake Placid.

"O.J.," as his teammates affectionately call him, stopped 86 of 93 RPI shots--many of the spectacular variety. The Engineers averaged nearly four goals per game entering the weekend; it could only sqeak three past Jonas through the first two games.

"[Jonas] simply played great for us," junior forward Trevor Allman said. "It's unfortunate what happened to J.R., but he was outstanding."

Jonas impressed all with his agressiveness, superb positional play and lightning-quick reflexes.

Amidst a pantheon of great saves, one of his finest came in the first game while killing a late RPI power play.

Junior forward Steve Caley collected a rebound to Jonas' left with virtually the entire right side of the net open. Caley paused for a split second giving Jonas just enough time to glove the puck away.

The Munich, Germany native made sure that Harvard's 2-1 lead held up in the first game and he gave Harvard a chance to eliminate the Engineers in game two, limiting RPI to just one goal through the first two-and-one half periods.

In the rubber match, Jonas shone again, making 28 saves and allowing only two goals through two periods. It took a superb shot off a mini-breakaway generated by a defensive zone turnover to beat Jonas for the game-winner and end the Harvard season.

For exceeding all expectations and for excelling under unusually intense playoff pressure, The Crimson would like to honor Oliver Jonas as the Athlete of the Week and wish him all the best next year.