M. Hockey Splits Homestand

The comfort of home ice for the first round of the ECAC playoffs was but a win away for the Harvard men's hockey team. Unfortunately for the Crimson, RPI senior goaltender and Hobey Baker candidate Joel Laing was one shutout away from setting his school's record for most blankings in a season and for a career.

Pack your bags, Harvard.

Junior winger Brad Tapper scored at 5:36 of the second period and Laing turned aside all 29 Harvard shots as the Engineers defeated the Crimson 2-0 Saturday night at Bright Hockey Center ending Harvard's quest for home ice and a three-game winning streak. Harvard (11-15-2, 9-10-2 ECAC) had defeated Union, 3-2, the night before to give it the opportunity.

"We gave it everything we have," Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni said. "We were playing for home ice and did everything you'd expect."

Instead of friendly Bright, the Crimson now travel to the most hostile environment in all of college hockey--Cornell's Lynah Rink. The loss left Harvard tied for sixth place with Princeton. The two had split their season series, so it went to the next tiebreaker, wins against the top five, and the Tigers had the edge.

The Crimson has defeated the Big Red in its last two trips to Lynah, including a 2-1 win on Nov. 13. But Cornell has won the last two times they have met in the postseason, including a 2-1 win at the ECAC finals in 1996, ending Harvard's improbable run at Lake Placid.

"We enjoy playing at Cornell," captain Trevor Allman said. "It's a difficult place to play, but the crowd generates our enthusiasm as well."

Ironically, Cornell did give Harvard some help on Saturday. By beating Princeton, it allowed Harvard to claim its first Ivy League championship since 1993-94.

The loss also meant that Allman, defenseman Matt Scorsune, defenseman Mark Moore, winger Brett Chodorow, winger Scott Turco, winger Matt Macleod, winger Jamin Kerner and goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo will never step onto the Bright ice again as players. Pregame ceremonies honored the Crimson's seniors, but they couldn't get the best send-off of all, a win.

Rensselaer 2, Harvard 0

Harvard had difficulty cracking the Engineer defense for the first two periods, but trailing 1-0 and with home ice slipping away, it poured on the pressure for the final frame.

But that's why Laing has a case for the Hobey.

Harvard had numerous golden chances to get the equalizer, sending 11 shots on Laing in the third period that went for naught as the Engineers (19-12-2, 11-9-1) held on to win, 2-0.

"I applaud the effort we gave tonight," Mazzoleni said. "Laing was exceptional."

Macleod received perhaps the best chance with about seven minutes left. Standing on the top of the goal crease, he one-timed a pass from behind the net that Laing managed to get a toe on

Three minutes earlier, sophomore winger Kyle Clark darted in on a breakaway. Clark, looking for his first goal of the season, couldn't get Laing to bite on any of his fakes and his shot hit the Engineer square in the chest.

Even with the goaltender pulled, Harvard couldn't find the magic shot to send the game into overtime.

"In the second period, I felt the momentum had switched to them,'' Rensselaer Coach Dan Fridgen said. "But we maintained our composure and weathered the storm. Laing was there for us."

Tapper netted the goal of record on a five-on-three power play in the second period. Controlling the puck at the top of the left face-off circle, he patiently waited for a screen, then drilled a shot short-side past Prestifilippo.

The strike was Tapper's 30th of the season, which is more than double the output of Harvard's leading goal-scorer, freshman center Dominic Moore, who finished his rookie year with 12.

While the Engineer defense didn't offer Laing much support in the third period, it was sharp through the first two, especially on the penalty kill. The Crimson power play had been improving over the past few games, but it struggled mightily on Saturday, going 0-for-5.

Even with a 1:17 two-man advantage in the first period, Harvard could barely register a shot on goal, having difficulty working the puck down low.

"Our power play has been our Achilles' heel," Mazzoleni said. "We struggle on it and it came back to bite us in the ass tonight."

Prestifilippo made 22 saves in his final Bright performance, keeping the high-powered Engineers in check except for Tapper's lone strike.

Doug Shepherd added an empty net goal at 19:26 to give the Engineers its margin of victory.

Harvard 3, Union 2

Harvard must have cashed in all its luck vouchers on Friday. Whereas it couldn't buy a goal on Saturday, it rung up two relatively soft tallies against Union (8-22-1, 6-14-1) to win 3-2.

Or maybe it was just the good fortune of facing a freshman goalie making his second career start rather than a Hobey Baker candidate.

Freshman winger Brett Nowak snapped a 2-2 tie at 10:21 of the third period for the game-winner. He sent a shot from behind the left face-off circle--almost exactly from where Tapper scored the following night--over Union goalie Marc Wise's left shoulder.

It was Nowak's fifth goal of the season and first since Nov. 27 against Brown. Nowak has been struggling to find his offensive game ever since he left to play at the World Junior Championships in Sweden over Christmas break. At one time, he had been projected by the NHL's Central Scouting to go as high as 14th overall in this year's draft.

"I changed up how I prepared for games," Nowak said of his slump. "I just tried to keep my mind off of it. I tried to get the assists and the goal would just come."

Nowak's long range-shot was preceded by the goal by sophomore winger Jeff Stonehouse. Stonehouse gave the Crimson a 2-1 lead at 11:24 of the first period on a wristshot from the right face-off dot that somehow eluded Wise.

The Crimson, though, had to contend with a scrappy Skating Dutchman squad that had a lot on the line. In danger of losing the tenth and final postseason berth, Union came back from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period, despite getting outshot 16-8 in the opening frame.

By the second period, high quality scoring chances were hard to come by for either team as the game slowed down to the pace the less-skilled Skating Dutchmen prefer.

"Gotta give Union credit because they were playing for their playoff lives." Stonehouse said. "But we came out with a win, so it all equals out."

Wise made 33 saves in defeat for Union. Coach Kevin Sneddon '92 gave him the nod in order to rest his workhorse sophomore, Brandon Snee. Snee had started every single game for Union up until last weekend, and was, by Sneddon's admission, physically and mentally tired.

Junior center Steve Moore opened the scoring for the Crimson, knocking home a shot from the slot off a Union turnover at 8:45 of the first period.

Bryant Westerman and Jeff Sproat scored the two Union goals. Sproat's tally came with 40 seconds left in the first on the power play.

Union defeated Brown 4-2 in Providence, R.I., on Saturday to finish 10th and to earn the right to face No. 7 St. Lawrence in the first round.