Harvard Rolls in Semifinal Win

With eight wins in its last 10 games, one could certainly say that the No. 16 Harvard (17-13-4) men’s hockey team is on a roll.

Its latest victory came March 21, as the Crimson rolled over archrival No. 20 Cornell (19-14-4) in the semifinals of the ECAC championship tournament.

“This is great,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said in a postgame press conference. “But our guys came here with one thing in mind, and that’s to win the ECAC.”

Despite this mindset, it was clear from the outset that the battle for a spot in the ECAC finals would be tough one. The Big Red outshot the Crimson 10-8 in the first period and forced sophomore goaltender Kyle Richter to stop several prime goal-scoring opportunities, including a point-blank shot from Cornell forward Blake Gallagher. Ultimately, the tight, back-and-forth play and strong goalkeeping on both ends resulted in a scoreless opening period.

The floodgates were opened when both teams managed to capitalize on power-play opportunities in the second period. Senior forward Dave Watters’ goal at 3:35 unleashed a barrage of scoring from both sides.

After failing to convert on two power-play opportunities in the first period, the Crimson made sure to make the most of the man-advantage. One minute into its first power-play opportunity of the period, Watters deflected junior defenseman Brian McCafferty’s slapshot past Big Red goaltender Ben Scrivens to give Harvard a 1-0 lead.

Indeed, Harvard relied heavily on special teams play for the win, as all three of its goals came on power plays.

“Special teams [was] a big thing,” sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Richter said of the two regular-season games against Cornell. “The defense limited [Cornell’s] odd-man rushes. The guys did a good job of keeping them to the outside and allowing me to see the puck.”

Less than 90 seconds after the first tally, the Crimson struck again as senior forward Jon Pelle capitalized on the man-advantage to score the eventual game-winning goal. 5:02 into the period, Pelle fired the puck over Scrivens’ shoulder and into the top right corner of the net to give Harvard a two-goal advantage.

“I just put [the puck] on net and fortunately it found a hole there,” Pelle said.

Cornell managed to pull one back on the Crimson when Topher Scott found the back of the net just 14 seconds into a power play. The tally ended the second-period scoring frenzy.

Pelle capped off the scoring with a late third-period goal as he found the net with just 2:36 left to play. However, Harvard couldn’t count itself as the night’s victor quite yet.

The Big Red removed Scrivens from the net with 2:18 left in the third, forcing the Crimson to play defense for the rest of the game in order to kill off the six-on-four penalty play. Although Cornell outshot Harvard 16-12 in the final period, the Big Red was ultimately unable to score and force overtime.

The win landed the Crimson a place in the ECAC finals for the sixth time in seven years.

Additionally, the March 21 victory marked the third time that the Crimson has defeated the Big Red this season.

The last time the two teams met was in the final game of the regular season in Ithaca where Harvard skated off the ice with a 3-1 win and a first-round bye in the ECAC tournament.

“It’s like seeing an old friend,” Donato said. “Inevitably, it seems, at some point you’re going to see Cornell.”

Unfortunately for the Big Red, it was not treated with the hospitality an old friend might expect, as Harvard promptly eliminated the team on its quest for the ECAC championship and a bid to the NCAA tournament.

—Staff writer Lucy D. Chen can be reached at lucychen@fas.harvard.edu.