Harvard Gains Three Points From Cornell, Colgate

About the only thing the Harvard men's hockey team failed to extract out of its trip to upstate New York this weekend was revenge.

The Crimson (3-1-1, 3-1-1 ECAC) returned to Cornell (2-2-1, 2-1-1 ECAC) on Friday, the site of its first round exit of a year ago, and, despite a strong performance, managed to walk away with just a 1-1 tie. Harvard then defeated Colgate (2-6-2, 1-3-0), 3-2, at Starr Rink on Saturday, giving the Crimson three valuable ECAC points off an extremely difficult road weekend.

"We played really well this weekend," freshman winger Tyler Kolarik said. "We managed to stay within out system, and while we obviously would've liked to have beaten Cornell as well, three points is not a bad showing at all."

Headlining the Crimson's efforts on the road trip was another stellar performance from senior goaltender Oli Jonas. In one short month as the team's No. 1 netminder, he has firmly ensconced himself as a bedrock between the pipes.

"Jonas was simply great for us," sophomore center Dominic Moore said. "He kept us in the game against Cornell and was excellent all weekend."

The team also displayed its versatility as it matched the strength of a large Cornell squad and skated stride-for-stride with the fleet Red Raiders.

The weekend makes up for a disappointing 5-3 home loss to Vermont last Friday and bumps the Crimson into second place in the ECAC, one point behind the Catamounts--but having played one more game.

The one unusual part of the trip was that the Moore brothers--sophomore Dominic and captain Steve each did not play one game this weekend for reasons not readily apparent. Dominic missed the Cornell game and Steve did not play against Colgate.

Harvard now faces its biggest test of the year to date. It will travel to Boston University tomorrow before hosting No. 2 Boston College on Saturday.

Harvard 3, Colgate 2

The Red Raiders attempted to take advantage of an inexperienced Crimson defense, which features two freshmen and a sophomore. The Red Raiders advanced to the NCAA tournament last year.

With both teams having traded goals in the third period to leave Harvard with a 2-1 lead, Kolarik notched the game-winning goal for the Crimson on a breakaway at 15:07 of the third period.

Colgate turned the puck over high in the Harvard defensive zone, and junior winger Jared Cantanucci found Kolarik heading up ice ahead of the pack. Kolarik beat Cann for his first collegiate goal.

The goal was a bit of a milestone for the highly touted rookie as he has had plenty of chances in his first four games, but had only been able to find iron.

"I knew Cantanucci had the puck and Nucc knew I was cutting," Kolarik said. "He made a nice pass to me and the rest was easy."

Jonas and Colgate backup goaltender Dave Cann put on a duel for the first two periods, with Jonas stopping all 17 Red Raider shots and Cann nabbing 14 of 15, with only sophomore center Brett Nowak beating him at 1:45 of the first period.

Crimson assistant captain Peter Capouch marked out a very different tone for the third period, scoring a shorthanded goal off a rebound at 3:52 of the period.

The other assistant captain, Chris Bala, used his tremednous speed to fly into the Red Raider zone on a breakaway. Cann managed to get Bala, but the unmarked Capouch easily cleaned up the garbage.

Colgate star defensemen Cory Murphy brought the Red Raiders with in one goal at 8:05, and ECAC leading scorer Scooter Smith repeated the feat with just 48 seconds left in the game, but Harvard hung on for the win.

"We talked a lot about the loss to UVM and how they were able to force us into playing their high-flying system," Kolarik said. "We were much more disciplined tonight."

The Crimson's discipline paid off especially while shorthanded. The Red Raiders entered the game converting at an excellent 23.4 percent clip with the man advantage. Harvard used a full pressure penalty kill, neutralizing Colgate's speed with its own and was rewarded with not only preserving its perfect record down a man, but also a shorthanded goal.

"They have a lot of team speed," Kolarik said. "But I think we surprised them with our own."

Harvard 1, Cornell 1 (OT)

Friday night was the ECAC home opener for Cornell, and the Lynah faithful were ready. Fish of all breeds--including Swedish--were splattered on the ice to greet everyone's favorite team from Cambridge. They remembered last year's playoffs and were confident of a repeat performance.

By the third period, they were grateful for their point.

Capouch evened the game at 1-1 as part of a 12-shot Crimson effort in the final period of regulation play. Harvard poured on the offense, raining shots on Cornell goalie Ian Burt from the point, but was only rewarded when Capouch's blast deflected off a Big Red defender in front of the net an even 12 minutes into the frame.

"I think by the end of the game, we had them on the ropes, and they knew that they were fortunate for the game to only be tied," Kolarik said. "But we were not looking to get any ties. We always want the win."

The victory was in jeopardy during the overtime period as Steve Moore took a hooking penalty at 1:03.

"Cornell is a team that likes to wear you down as the game progresses," Dominic Moore said. "They had the power play in overtime, but Jonas and the whole team stood their ground."

This game was defined in part by an ineptitude on special teams. Cornell went 0-for-9 on the power play, while Harvard merely came up empty on seven.

Still, overall, the Big Red expected to be able to outmuscle the Crimson in this contest like it was able to do during last year's playoff. However, the new talent and the fruits of Assistant Coach Ron Rolston's rigorous off-season workout program paid off with considerable success.

Dave Francis notched the lone goal for Cornell at 3:11 of the first, and the tally nearly held until Harvard turned it up a notch in the third.

"Cornell is a very difficult environment to play in," Dominic Moore said. "We have to be happy that we played a good game and came out with a point."

Jonas made 23 saves for Harvard while Burt had 22 for the Big Red.