Hockey's Pettit Garners Rookie of the Week Honors

His first name lends itself to the nickname "Tiny." His last name looks like "petite." At 5'11, he isn't exactly a giant in stature.

Make no mistake about it though, freshman Tim Pettit has come up huge in helping the Harvard hockey team out of its recent five-game slump.

The freshman winger was named

Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Rookie of the Week on Monday. It was the second time this season Pettit garnered rookie honors.

Pettit, the top scoring freshman in the conference, had a torrid week despite a 1-2 Crimson record. He tallied four goals and four assists over that three-game stretch.

Pettit notched a goal and two assists in Harvard's consolation game loss to Northeastern and contributed a goal and an assist in Friday's loss to Clarkson.

More importantly, Pettit was instrumental in helping the Crimson find the win column again. He led Harvard with two goals and an assist during Saturday's upset victory over ECAC-leading No. 15 St. Lawrence.

With Harvard clinging to a 2-1 lead in the closing minute of regulation, it was Pettit who stole the puck from a Saints defender and found the empty net to give the Crimson some breathing room. Pettit lit the lamp again eleven seconds later--this time rifling a shot past the St. Lawrence netminder--to seal the deal.

Pettit's emergence on his newly line with sophomore forward Dominic Moore and co-captain Chris Bala has contributed to a surge in offensive production. The unit has put up seven goals and 11 assists since the loss to Northeastern in the Beanpot consolation-final.

Pettit himself continues to make a compelling case for Rookie of the Year honors. Pettit is the only Harvard player with more than one multi-goal game. He now has 11 goals and 13 assists on the season, third behind last year's top rookie Dominic Moore (35 points) and older brother Steve (25).