Cornell Bounces M. Hockey

Ithaca, N.Y.--The Ithaca authorities managed to prevent most of the fish-throwing for last weekend's ECAC Quarterfinal series. Instead, the Harvard men's hockey team had to contend with a new, but far more painful playoff tradition at Cornell--losing.

The Big Red swept the Crimson in a pair of nerve-racking, exciting playoff battles, each by a score of 4-3 in front of a raucous, sold-out Lynah Rink. The defeats mark the third consecutive time Harvard and Cornell have renewed their rivalry in the postseason with the Big Red emerging victorious.

"We played great," junior winger Chris Bala said. "Each night we played well enough to win, but it wasn't in the cards, losing by a goal both times."

Indeed, the Crimson had a chance to win on both nights. On Friday, Harvard battled back to tie up the score 3-3 on a gorgeous power play goal by senior winger Scott Turco at 10:31 of the second period, while on Saturday the Crimson held leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2.

But Cornell captain Doug Stienstra found the mark with just 52 seconds left in the second period in the first game. During game two, the Big Red sealed the Crimson's fate by striking for two goals 25 seconds apart in the third period. Harvard could never get another one past goalie Ian Burt.

"I'm proud of the way we played," Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni said. "We played our hearts out. I couldn't ask for anything more from our team for six periods."

Stienstra in particular victimized the Crimson, netting two goals and three assists on the weekend. Harvard was led by the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, freshman center Dominic Moore, who had four assists.

In his final games, senior netminder J.R. Prestifilippo once again did his part to give the Crimson a chance to win. He made a total of 51 saves.

Prestifilippo especially drew the attention of the Lynah crowd. The Big Red Band had prepared "No Smoking" style signs, substituting Prestifilippo's mugshot for the cigarette.

"We lost this series in two games," Prestifilippo said. "We could've easily won it in two games."

Cornell 4, Harvard 3 (Game Two)

Entering the playoff series, the Crimson was 9-2-2 when scoring the first goal. On both nights, Harvard struck first, but on both occasions it didn't matter.

Bala set up the Crimson's first goal of this game, and he also scored on a sharp-angle shot at 4:41 of the third period to give Harvard a 3-2 lead. But the Crimson's good fortune wouldn't last.

Less than two minutes later, Cornell sophomore winger Denis Ladoucer blew past Crimson junior defenseman Tim Stay to create a two-on-none rush with Stienstra. Ladoucer kept the puck himself down the right wing and beat Prestifilippo at 6:29 of the third.

The Big Red then took the only lead it would need at 6:54 when freshman winger Shane Palahicky hit sophomore center Krysztof Wieckowski on the doorstep, and he jammed it five-hole.

"The third period was a summary of our season," Mazzoleni said. "We made two critical mistakes and we lost the hockey game."

Before the two goals, it looked as if Harvard had gotten away with its critical mistakes. Cornell had two breakaways within thirty seconds of each other, while the score was still tied at 2, but came up empty.

Harvard, however, could not capitalize on any other breaks in the final period. It went on the power play with 5:27 left in the game, but the previously shaky Cornell penalty kill slammed the door shut on the Crimson.

Burt made 23 saves for the Big Red.

"We persevered over a lot this year," Cornell Coach Mike Shafer said. "In the third period, we stayed on track and didn't get rattled."

As per tradition, the Cornell fans flooded the ice when the final buzzer sounded, celebrating their team's third-straight elimination of top rival Harvard when the pair have met in the postseason.

"The celebration puts the players in touch with the fans," Shafer said. "It's a neat, college hockey environment."

Penalties marred most of the second period, but the waning minutes previewed the wild third as the teams lit the lamp 22 seconds apart. With 2:28 remaining, Dominic Moore dug the puck out along the right boards and fed Stay at the point. Stay faked the blast, and slid a long pass to freshman winger Brett Nowak, who tipped it past Burt to give Harvard a 2-1 lead.

Cornell senior defenseman Rick Sacchetti scored his second career goal at 17:54 to tie the game at 2. Stienstra notched the Big Red's first goal of the game, sending a shot through a screen on the power play at 11:38.

Harvard's first goal came while shorthanded. The hustle of Bala and sophomore winger Jeff Stonehouse created a two-on-one rush, and Stonehouse just managed to nudge Bala's feed past Burt.

Cornell 4, Harvard 3 (Game One)

Whenever Harvard began to gain any momentum in either hockey game this weekend, the Big Red snuffed it out almost immediately. In the opener, Cornell snapped a 3-3 tie with 52 seconds remaining in the second period, and never relinquished control.

Stienstra punctuated a rough-and-tumble second period at 19:08 leading a three-on-two rush down the right wing. Although he fell down as he cut to the net, Stienstra still managed to sneak the puck past Prestifilippo.

The goal was the only questionable shot that eluded Prestifilippo Friday night as he sparkled down the stretch. He made 13 saves in the third period as Cornell swarmed to the puck creating several odd-man rushes as it looked for the tying goal.

Harvard dodged several bullets in the final period which would have iced the game for the Big Red. Cornell's best opportunity to move up by two goals came early in the frame as it had a 27-second two-man advantage. Despite possessing the puck in the attack zone for almost the entire five-on-three and subsequent five-on-four, a flopping Prestifilippo managed to give the Crimson a chance to tie.

"[Prestifilippo] played a very good game, but I'd like to see the tape on the last one," Mazzoleni said. "We had just battled to even the score, but then they made it a one-goal game again."

Instead, special teams kept Harvard in the game. Its previously struggling power play, which entered the contest on a 4-for-45 slump, accounted for two of the Crimson's three goals. The man advantage produced the equalizer in the second period, momentarily swinging the momentum back towards Harvard.

The Crimson knotted the score on a sequence of cross ice-passes. From behind the left faceoff circle, junior center Steve Moore hit his brother, Dominic, who quickly fed Turco on the doorstep for the equalizer at 10:55 of the second.

"We switched to more of a two-three formation," Mazzoleni said. "We inverted the sticks high on the points so the forehands were facing the middle, placing a premium on shots on net."

Cornell's huge size advantage eventually wore the Crimson down as the game progressed. Harvard traded blows during the middle period, but in the bookends, the Big Red was able to keep the puck down by Prestifilippo.

Harvard's best chance to send the contest to overtime came as time was expiring. Steve Moore launched a desperation shot from the blueline that managed to squirt through Burt's legs and trickled wide.

Burt made 20 saves in victory for Cornell.

"We play a physical style that starts to take its toll during the game," Shafer said. "Some teams prefer smaller, speed guys, but I like big guys who are tough to face in a two- or three-game series."

The opening eight minutes of the game were dominated by Cornell, holding Harvard without a shot. But the Crimson managed to kick off a wild first period on the power play which produced its first shot and first goal on a tip-in by the falling Steve Moore at 8:03 of the first.

The Big Red answered the Crimson's surprising opening strike less than three minutes later on a one-timer from the top of the crease by freshman winger Stephen Baby at 10:33.

Junior Danny Powell handed Cornell its first lead of the game when he pinched down from the left point to blast an errant pass from Stienstra into the upper righthand corner. The gorgeous shot beat Prestifilippo with 6:39 remaining in the opening period.

Crimson sophomore defenseman Pete Capouch tied up the score at 2-2 and a charging Mike Rutter one-timed a shot from the slot for Cornell at 17:13 to round out the period's scoring.

Senior winger Brett Chodorow sprained his shoulder during the first period on a missed check and did not play Saturday. Sophomore Jared Cantanucci took his lineup spot.

The Aftermath

The first-round elimination ends the Harvard careers for the eight seniors on the team. Led by captain Trevor Allman, defenseman Matt Scorsune, Prestifilippo, and Turco, this group has not experienced the success of past Crimson classes.

The group only advanced once to Lake Placid, during their sophomore season. The Crimson that year swept Colgate at home to move on and wound up finishing third, winning the consolation game against Yale.

The seniors' playoff escapades came full circle with the losses at Cornell. Their rookie season also ended in a Lynah sweep.

After the loss, the Class of 2000 preferred to focus on the good times.

"My Harvard career was a complete success," Prestifilippo said. "I went to the best school in the country. I met some great people. I'm proud of what our senior class has started for this program."

"The eight seniors have left the program heading in the right direction," Allman said. "I'm proud of the things we've accomplished."

Also, these seniors mark the first graduating class for Mazzoleni. Though the Crimson did not improve markedly in the standings this year, he has begun to turn the program around in terms of work ethic and discipline.

With a large and extremely talented recruiting class coming next year, Mazzoleni already had one eye on the future.

"The seniors did everything we asked of them for this stage of the rebuilding job," Mazzoleni said. "This type of loss is what carries you through all the offseason training. I can promise you the next time we roll in here, our team is going to be different."

When the two teams lined up for post-series handshakes, the old Cornell tradition resurfaced and a few fish flew to the ice. Hopefully, Mazzoleni and the 1999-2000 Crimson have laid the groundwork for the revival of an old Harvard tradition--winning.