Du's Hat Trick a Doozie in OT Win

“Kevin Du’s a very talented guy,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 in early December, “very much a part of our success whenever we win.”

The statement is obvious enough: when good players play well, it tends to help the team. And that night, Du had left his signature on two of the Crimson’s scores in a 3-2 win over Quinnipiac.

But Donato wasn’t done speaking about his speedy center.

“The unfortunate part about it,” the coach added, scratching his head, “because he’s counted on so much, when he has off games, the flip side of it is he’s a big part of the games when we lose.”

Consider this: Harvard is 14-9-2 on the season.

That’s only five more wins than losses, and yet Du has amassed 19 points in the victories and just four in the defeats.

Of course, asking the junior to win every game is a pretty tall order, especially for a kid whose 5’10 listing on the Crimson roster is probably generous.

And besides, a sheet of ice generally features 12 players at a time, not one.

But still, Du’s ability to spark a charge—or, better yet, to tip a close game in Harvard’s favor—is uncanny.

He’s small, but he’s quick as greased lightning, and rarely does a bruising hit slow him down.

And Friday night against Princeton, a game that saw the Tigers claw their way back after every goal Harvard scored, Du did it all.

He gave the Crimson a 1-0 lead midway through the first period with a crease deflection.

He put his team up 3-2 with under a minute remaining in the second frame with a close-range rebound.

And midway through the third period, to the delight of hat-donning fans throughout the Bright Hockey Center, Du took a second stab at his own shot and beat Tiger netminder Eric Leroux for the 4-3 lead.

That’s one tie-breaking goal per period.

And so in overtime, with the score knotted 4-4, it came as no surprise that Donato chose to send Du out for a penalty shot. He might have been booed out of the building if he’d done anything else.

Du lined up the puck and skated towards Leroux, holding a straight line, refusing to fake. He simply glided forward and launched the puck.

“The ice was pretty chopped up,” he said, “so I knew that a deke probably wouldn’t have been too useful.”

And though Du missed the shot and his chance at a fourth goal, teammate Jon Pelle sealed the 5-4 win 50 seconds later with a redirection.

“Unbelievable,” Pelle said of Du’s hat trick once the skaters had left the ice.

“He was due for a breakout night. He really works for it, he’s been getting a lot of chances, and he definitely deserved it tonight.”

—Staff writer Rebecca A. Seesel can be reached at seesel@fas.harvard.edu.