MIRACLE ON ICE

LAKE PLACID, N.Y.—Cinderella is going ice dancing.

Sophomore Tyler Kolarik’s goal at 16:11 of double overtime gave the Harvard men’s hockey team an epic 4-3 double-overtime victory over heavily-favored Cornell in the ECAC championship game, sending the Crimson to its first NCAA tournament since 1994.

“It was a great college hockey game,” Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni said. “We had to be at our best to beat Cornell, and this was our best game.”

Written off just two weeks earlier after backing into the postseason, Harvard (15-14-4) improbably secured an automatic tourney berth with its first four-game winning streak of the season.

Three of those four wins came in overtime, including Harvard’s 3-2 victory over Clarkson in the ECAC semifinals on Friday. Saturday’s win improved the Crimson to 4-0-4 in overtime games on the year, with each win more exciting than the one before.

The victory was a gigantic step for the Harvard hockey program, which had fallen on hard times in the late 1990s after being one of the most dominant teams in college hockey a decade before.

“When our staff took over three years ago, we knew it was going to take time,” Mazzoleni said. “I never envisioned this would happen tonight.”

Last night, Harvard received the sixth seed in the NCAA tournament’s eastern region. The Crimson will play Maine at Worcester Saturday in the first round.

Despite losing Saturday, Cornell (24-7-2) earned an at-large bid, and the Big Red has the easiest first-round matchup of the tournament, opening against MAAC champion Quinnipiac.

Kolarik’s goal ended a tense, four-hour stalemate that surpassed Harvard’s 2-1 double-overtime victory over Brown last Saturday as the longest game in school history.

The game-winning sequence started when sophomore forward Tim Pettit fired a cross-ice pass a streaking Kolarik, who took the puck inside the blueline. Kolarik, playing with a broken thumb, then wristed a knuckling shot which eluded Big Red goalie Matt Underhill to the stick side and set off a wild celebration behind the Cornell goal.

“I thought I caught Underhill by surprise,” Kolarik said. “He was expecting me to drive wide, but I just threw the puck at net with all I had.”

For his efforts, Kolarik was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Pettit, who scored twice versus Cornell, made the All-Championship Team.

In addition to being the longest game in Harvard history, Saturday’s contest was the longest game in Cornell history, the longest-ever ECAC championship game and the ninth-longest game in the history of NCAA hockey.

After a fast and furious first overtime period filled with quality scoring chances on each side, both teams battled fatigue in the second overtime. Harvard had to be especially wary of tiring, as the Crimson played just three lines and five defensemen for virtually the entire game, while the Big Red countered with a full complement of four lines and six blueliners.

Harvard had also worked overtime for its win against Clarkson the night before, while Cornell cruised into the finals with an easy 3-0 victory over RPI.

But the skaters from both teams somehow found bursts of energy when necessary. Freshman forward Tom Cavanagh—the hero of Friday’s win over Clarkson—was especially active in the second overtime for Harvard, just missing on a mini-breakaway opportunity early in the period.

Cornell also had its chances to end the game—including one where Crimson freshman goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris lost the puck in his own crease—but the Big Red was unable to capitalize.

“Our legs were tired, but our hearts were not tired,” Moore said. “Mentally we were there and that was the difference.”

Just like he was in the semifinal game, Grumet-Morris was huge in the extra periods Saturday. The freshman goaltender maintained his poise, turning away shot after shot for his third overtime win in as many games.

Harvard presented an impressive ability to score against the stingy Big Red defense, which entered the game ranked No. 1 in the country, allowing just 1.64 goals per game. The Crimson scored three or more goals in each of its meetings against Cornell this season.

Harvard took advantage of the 1980 Rink’s Olympic-sized surface, which is fifteen feet wider than a regulation rink. The Crimson utilized its superior speed to offset the bigger Cornell skaters and find holes in the Big Red defense.

“Playing on the Olympic sheet, they were able to spread us out the entire game,” Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. “It forced us to be more patient, which is not our strong point.”

Cornell narrowly avoided disaster at the end of regulation. It is customary for a hockey referee to not call any penalty short of criminal assault late in a game as important as last night’s, but referee Scott Hansen whistled Cornell defenseman Doug Murray for roughing with just over a minute left to play. The controversial call infuriated Schafer, the Big Red bench and the few thousand Cornell fans in attendance.

Harvard was unable to capitalize on the unexpected man advantage, though, as Cornell easily killed off the penalty, which extended into the first overtime.

Harvard opened the game tentatively, containing Cornell, but unable to muster much offensive pressure on its own. When Cornell failed to score early, though, Harvard seemed to gain confidence, and the Crimson opened the scoring at 16:38 when Moore unleashed a wrist shot from the left face-off circle that snuck through Underhill’s pads.

Harvard had the lead, but not for long. Cornell tied the game 50 seconds later on a goal by Krzysztof Wieckowski.

Despite the quick Big Red score, Harvard’s goal energized the Crimson, who was finally able to establish consistent offensive pressure toward the end of the first period.

The second period featured furious action and simply dominating five-on-five hockey from the Crimson, who outshot the Big Red 10-3. Defensive breakdowns and penalties plagued Harvard, however, and the teams skated off tied at three.

Cornell started the period on the power play after an obstruction call on sophomore defenseman Kenny Smith. The Big Red took advantage of the Harvard penalty just 42 seconds in, when Sam Paolini’s close-range shot trickled to the right of Grumet-Morris for a power-play goal, giving the Big Red a 2-1 lead.

Harvard earned its first power-play opportunity five minutes later, and it wasted little time cashing in.

Junior forward Brett Nowak collected the puck at Harvard’s own blue line and raced up the left side of the rink all the way to the Big Red faceoff circle. Nowak then fired a picture-perfect pass to Pettit on the other side of the crease, who flipped the puck into the net at 7:01 of the second.

Harvard dictated play for the next several minutes, establishing the aggressive forecheck that has given opponents so many problems in the last two weeks. The Crimson had several scoring chances, but it was Cornell who broke the tie, taking advantage of a Harvard defensive breakdown as Palahicky beat Grumet-Morris for the 3-2 lead.

That goal did not slow the Crimson down, however. After applying extended pressure in the Cornell zone, the Crimson finally converted with just 15.9 seconds left in the period. Pettit capped off a flurry of Crimson shots, taking a pass from captain Peter Capouch to net his second goal of the game.

That goal tied the score at three, and it began nearly 60 minutes of scoreless hockey that ended with Harvard as ECAC champions.

HARVARD 4, CORNELL 3 (2OT)

at The 1980 Olympic Arena, Lake Placid, N.Y.

Harvard (15-14-4) 1 2 0 0 1 —— 4

Cornell (24-7-2) 1 2 0 0 0 —— 3

First Period: H, Moore (McCulloch) 16:38. C, Wieckowski (Palahicky, Mark McRae) 17:28. Second period: C, Paolini (Murray) 0:42 (pp). H, Pettit (Nowak, Capouch), 7:01 (pp). C, Palahicky (Hornby) 16:05. H, Pettit (Bernakevitch, Cavanagh) 19:44. Second Overtime: Kolarik (Pettit, Bernakevitch) 16:11. Shots on goal: H 4-12-11-9-7 44, C 5-3-9-7-5 29. Penalties: H 3-6, C 3-6. Power Play: H 1-1; C 1-2. Goalies: H, Grumet-Morris (26-3). C, Underhill (40-4). A: 6,518.