867-5309: Student Support Boosts Crimson

Years ago, hordes of Crimson hockey faithful streamed across the Charles River, making Harvard's Bright Hockey Center one of the most feared rinks in the ECAC. Even without the fish and the newspapers, the Crimson crazies of decades past easily rivaled the hundreds of dedicated Cornell fans who make the annual pilgrimage to Cambridge religiously.

Of course, the fans had more than enough reason to make the trip to Bright. With former head coach and athletic director William Cleary '56 at the helm during that decade, Harvard picked up a pair of ECAC championships at Lake Placid, advanced to the NCAA tournament seven times and earned the Crimson's only national championship during the 1988-89 campaign.

Those years were the pinnacle of Harvard hockey greatness. The Crimson inspired as much awe and respect in college hockey circles during the 1980's as Wisconsin, Minnesota and local rivals Boston College and Boston University.

Unfortunately, the program hit a few stumbling blocks after its decade of glory, and the overwhelming fan support from the college and community began to taper off. Gaps in the student section were common, and a sellout of Bright's 2,776 seats became a rare and disheartening phenomenon.

But for the first time in years, it appears that Harvard Hockey--and its core of fan support--is making a comeback.

"We're having a winning year right now, and we're in contention for the league championship. I hope people would give us a look," said Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni. "We appreciate the support and understand that it takes time to win people's support back."

We saw a taste of it back in November, when a raucous crowd packed into Bright for the Crimson's Thanksgiving weekend contest against B.C. With a 4-3 win over B.U. under its belt, Harvard almost extended its streak to the Eagles, falling to B.C. 3-2 in extra minutes.

And, in what would be a welcome trend, we saw it again last weekend in the Crimson's homestand against Colgate and Cornell. Over 2,400 fans packed the house Friday night to witness Harvard skate to a 4-1 victory over the Red Raiders. Not even an inch of standing room was available on Saturday, as a sellout crowd watched the Crimson battle to 2-1 loss to the Big Red.

The one big difference between these two weekends? Students. While the support in November was composed primarily of locals anticipating a great Beantown matchup, last weekend's fan support had a strong student contigent.

"It was a great college atmosphere," Mazzoleni said. "It's a great rivalry, and both teams laid it on the line. Our kids appreciate the energy in the building, and I'm sure the fans came away thoroughly entertained."

Although the score doesn't reflect it, Friday's matchup featured one of the most exciting penalty kill sequences of the season halfway through the second period.

"I think the crowd got revved up when we got a lot of heat from the officials," rookie winger Tyler Kolarik said.

Beginning at 8:28, the Crimson was assessed with two minor penalties, a major penalty and a game misconduct. The calls effectively gave the Red Raiders almost six minutes on the man advantage, more than half of which Harvard played two men down.

Senior goaltender Oli Jonas singlehandedly shut down Colgate's power play and held the Red Raiders scoreless throughout the kill. Colgate winger Etienne Morin almost lit the lamp at 9:05, but Jonas robbed him on the breakaway.

And with a stunning move reminiscent of Buffalo Sabres' netminder Dominik Hasek's antics, Jonas did it again. At 7:53, Morin took a pass across the slot and found himself on the doorstep with open net. As he moved to take the shot, Jonas flung his stick across the goalmouth to make the save.

After that dazzling display, chants of "Jonas" from a stunned Crimson crowd echoed off the walls in reverence.

And at 9:32 in the final frame, sophomore center Dom Moore brought the masses to their feet with the game-winning goal, his 10th of the season.

Dom, who has quickly become Harvard's specialty teams whiz this season, poke-checked the puck into the neutral zone off the faceoff in his own zone. Moore skirted a Colgate defenseman and wheeled down the ice to come in alone on goaltender David Cann. Cann stopped the initial backhander, but Moore batted home his own rebound to put the Crimson up 2-1.

After Friday's performance, Harvard fans were only too happy to return Saturday night.

With the help of the band, Crimson students were often successful in drowning out the cheers and jeers of Cornell crazies. They even had a few choice comments for the visiting fans and the Big Red itself. A perennial favorite is the band's mockery of the Cornell band's red-and-white striped uniforms:

"Hey, Cornell band, we found Waldo!"

However, Cornell held a decided advantage in the first period, jumping to an early two-goal lead. Two insurance goals to knock Harvard down a few pegs put the Big Red in a prime position, considering that the squad's strength is its tight defense and outstanding goaltending.

But even a scoreless second stanza didn't take the Crimson crowd out of the game. In fact, as Harvard started to build momentum through the final two periods, the fans only became more energized. And creative.

Josh Bliesath, a senior in Leverett House, tied a noose around a red bear, and waved it ominously over the ice. As the Big Red took the ice after the second intermission, Bliesath tossed its head on the ice near Cornell goaltender Matt Underhill in symbolic fashion.

Jonas and the younger Moore, both of whom came up big for Harvard this weekend, did their parts in keeping the Big Red off the board for the rest of the game, and pulling the team within one in the last period.

Frustrated by Cornell's defense, Dom Moore took matters into his own hands once again at 6:53 in the third. Moore stripped Big Red defender Mark McRae in front of the net, and confused Underhill to net another backhanded deke to make the final score 2-1.

The loss drops the Crimson to second place in the ECAC, tied with St. Lawrence, and propels Cornell (11-6-4, 9-3-2 ECAC) into the top slot. But Harvard (10-9-1, 9-5-1 ECAC) still boasts a winning record before tonight's Beanpot opener, a feat the Crimson hasn't accomplished since the 1995-96 season.

No one expected Harvard to go undefeated in the final stretch run, but if the Crimson stay on this winning path, Bright Hockey Center is sure to regain its former reputation.

"The crowd support has been great, but they've been better from what I hear," Kolarik said. "The seniors are very excited about where we stand right now. All those guys have had ups and downs, and we're finally getting there."