Men's Hockey Clinches Second Straight ECAC Title With 3-1 Win Over Vermont

BURLINGTON, VT.--With Friday's loss to Dartmouth still frozen in his mind, Harvard Men's Hockey Coach Ronn Tomassoni decided drastic action was in order.

The team met four times to discuss the aftermath of a 4-3 disaster that had severely upset the Crimson's postseason scenario. Tomassoni mixed up his lines in an effort to rekindle the spark that was missing throughout a four-game road trip through the frozen North.

But his best move was one that had been pencilled in for some time: starting freshman Tripp Tracy in goal.

And Tracy again lived up to his big-game billing, stopping 24 of 25 Vermont shots and leading the Crimson to a 3-1 victory over the Catamounts here in Gutterson Arena.

Paced also by the two goals from fired-up Matt Mallgrave, Harvard (19-3-2, 16-2-2 ECAC) clinched the number-one seed going into the ECAC conference tournament and grabbed its second straight league title; Vermont (12-13-3, 10-9-1 ECAC) settled more comfortably into the mire of seventh place.

And you had to look no further than Tracy after the game to notice that fact--as soon as the final buzzer sounded, he turned around to the Vermont student section and defiantly raised his hands in triumph.

Much of Tracy's ire was directed at his counterpart in the Catamount net, sophomore Christian Soucy, the more heralded of two excellent netminders.

"Hey, I'm going to admit it: I don't like seeing Soucy get a lot of the publicity he does," Tracy said. "It gives me motivation; to beat him twice this year, even though I'm on the better team, that's very rewarding to me."

The "better team" is what the Crimson finally looked like Saturday night, and oddly enough, the offense was led by the newly-demoted senior pair of Mallgrave and Steve Flomenhoft, playing on the fourth line Saturday with junior Ian Kennish.

"It was kind of a wake-up call for me," Mallgrave said. "Flo and I played horribly [against Dartmouth], and I think Coach was a little upset. It kind of sparks you to play better--it makes you mad."

That spark was evident on a power play that twice made Soucy look like the sieve Catamount fans wished Tracy to be. Soucy's bad misplay of a wide point shot was converted into an open-net tuck-in off of the back boards by sophomore Steve Martins; the goal at 11:30 of the first gave the Crimson a 2-1 lead.

And in the third, a similar rebound was slammed home by Mallgrave, after a slapshot that bounced out of Soucy's glove found its way right onto Number Nine's waiting stick in the crease.

A 3-1 lead, 6:49 to play, Tracy in goal...not even the San Jose Sharks could blow that kind of lead.

But with all of the individual heroics, it was easy to overlook the subtle performances that so pleased Tomassoni after the game.

"I thought [juniors] Sean McCann and Brian Farrell were just outstanding," he said. "McCann played as well as I've seen a defenseman play in a long, long time; Farrell was also out-standing, in all facets of the game.

"But this was a real team win for us as well; I just wanted us to play better hockey tonight...and for the most part, we did just that."

And from the glint in his eye, you could tell he wasn't kidding. HARVARD, 3-1 at Cutterson Field House Harvard  2  0  1  --  3 Vermont  1  0  0  --  1

First Period

Ver--Laddy (Johnson) 2:05.

Har--Mallgrave (Flomenhoft, McLaughlin) 2:33.

Har--Martine (Farrell, Body) 11:30.

Second Period

No scoring.

Third Period

Har--Mallgrave (Maguire, Drury) 13:11.

Saveer Har--Tracy 7-13-4-24; Ver--Soucy 15-5-6-26.

First Period

Ver--Laddy (Johnson) 2:05.

Har--Mallgrave (Flomenhoft, McLaughlin) 2:33.

Har--Martine (Farrell, Body) 11:30.

Second Period

No scoring.

Third Period

Har--Mallgrave (Maguire, Drury) 13:11.

Saveer Har--Tracy 7-13-4-24; Ver--Soucy 15-5-6-26.