Icemen Outlast Tigers, 4-3

How a team reacts to certain situations can say a lot about that squad's character, in addition to its ability.

For the Harvard men's hockey team, one of those defining moments came 6:24 into the third period Saturday night when Princeton tied the game at 2-2. Would Harvard strike out again in the third period, as it had at Colgate and Cornell, and to some extent, Yale?

Would Harvard find another way not to sweep an ECAC weekend at home at Bright Hockey Center?

The answers to both--an emphatic no.

Sophomore Ethan Philpott and freshman Mike Bent scored goals 1:15 and 2:18 after Princeton's equalizer, respectively, to revitalize Harvard and provide the Crimson (3-1-1, 3-1-1 ECAC) with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over the Tigers (1-4-0, 1-3-0).

"It's extremely crucial for us to win the close, close games," senior goalie Tripp Tracy (27 saves) said. "If we're going to be a good team and a successful team, then we need to be able to bounce back after teams get the momentum."

Until that point in the third period, Harvard had trouble putting pressure on the Princeton net. The Crimson generated just 13 shots on goal through 40 minutes, but Tracy's brilliant play in goal, the hard work of senior Kirk Nielsen and a new-and-improved Harvard power-play unit put the team up, 2-1.

The Tigers came out of the dressing room on a mission, and Jonathan Kelley took Jason Smith's feed to the left of Tracy and fired the puck into the mesh to tie the contest at 2-2.

But then Philpott and his linemates--senior Jason Karmanos and sophomore Henry Higdon--went to work. Philpott took a shot from point-blank range that Tiger goalie James Konte stopped. Higdon picked up the rebound and tried to wrap it around Konte on the right side. Again, Konte stopped it. But the line continued to work for the puck, and Harvard's gentle giant used all 6'4" of his frame to reach the biscuit with the tip of his stick and lift it over a fallen Konte.

"That was a big goal," Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni said. "That was nothing fancy--just working out there real hard, and they were rewarded because of that hard work."

The Crimson continued to pressure the Tiger net, and it earned a power play 40 seconds after Philpott's goal.

Going into Saturday's game, the Harvard power play was struggling big time. But the team snapped out of its slump (Bent had already scored on the man advantage in the first), and its first unit went to work.

Captain Brad Konik fed freshman Craig MacDonald down to the right of the goal, MacDonald then crossed the puck to Bent, who was waiting to Konte's left, and Bent blasted it home. Even John Madden couldn't diagram it any better than that one--a sort of a tic-tac-goal.

"Coach just emphasized tonight that we...basically make simple passes and the openings will open up," Konik (three assists) said. "We got it up high and worked it down low, and boom--the cross-ice pass was open."

Princeton's Mike Bois cut Harvard's lead to 4-3 with 3:25 left when he banged home a pass from Robbie Sinclair, but Harvard clamped down and allowed nothing else the rest of the game.

"There was no panic on the bench," Tomassoni said. "[Poise] is an important thing for any team, particularly for a younger team, was real pleased."

Harvard got off to a slow start in the contest, allowing a goal 11:36 in, but Nielsen's hard work led to a Crimson power play one minute later, and the Crimson converted.

Harvard took its first lead 4:32 into the second, when Nielsen again created something out of his hustle. Freshman Ethan Oberman took a shot from the point, which Konte stopped. However, the puck lay loose to Konte's right, and Nielsen charged towards it and deposited the disc past Konte to give Harvard the lead.

Then came the third period, and with it, a resurgence of Harvard's confidence.

The Crimson now has a stretch of three games against Hockey East foes, beginning with tomorrow night's contest against the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

"We really didn't get the job done last weekend," Tracy said. "To come back and get two [wins] here--and two Ivy League games--was a really positive springboard for us going into the non-conference games." HARVARD, 4-3 at Bright Hockey Center Princeton  1  1  1  --  3 Harvard  1  1  2  --  4

First Period

Pri--Given 3 (Kelley, Brown) 11:36.

Har--Bent 3 (Storey, Konik) 14:01. (PPG)

Second Period

Har--Nielsen 4 (Oberman, Konik) 4:32.

Third Period

Pri--Kelley 3 (Acosta, Smith) 6:24. (PPG)

Har--Philpott 1 (Higdon) 7:39.

Har--Bent 4 (MacDonald, Konik) 8:42. (PPG)

Pri--Bois 1 (Sinclair) 16:35.

Saves: Pri--Konte 6-5-1 22. Har--Tracy 10-8-9 27.

Power Play: Pri--1/6; Har--2, 5.

Attendance: 2,926 Princeton  3 Harvard  4

First Period

Pri--Given 3 (Kelley, Brown) 11:36.

Har--Bent 3 (Storey, Konik) 14:01. (PPG)

Second Period

Har--Nielsen 4 (Oberman, Konik) 4:32.

Third Period

Pri--Kelley 3 (Acosta, Smith) 6:24. (PPG)

Har--Philpott 1 (Higdon) 7:39.

Har--Bent 4 (MacDonald, Konik) 8:42. (PPG)

Pri--Bois 1 (Sinclair) 16:35.

Saves: Pri--Konte 6-5-1 22. Har--Tracy 10-8-9 27.

Power Play: Pri--1/6; Har--2, 5.

Attendance: 2,926 Princeton  3 Harvard  4