Hockey Nips Big Green, Falls to Vermont

BURLINGTON, Vt. and HANOVER, N.H.--These are heady times for the Harvard men's hockey team, the Janusfaced New Year and the second half of the season quickly upon the Crimson.

In this month of new beginnings and resolutions, Harvard finds itself focused on finishing.

Friday night's game against the University of Vermont and Saturday night's contest against Dartmouth both provided dramatic endings.

The Crimson started the weekend with a 5-1 loss to the Catamounts at Gutterson Arena.

The lone Harvard goal was scored in the second period by sophomore Craig Adams to tie the game at one apiece.

Just as a Harvard power-play ended, Adams placed a wobbly puck past Vermont goalie Tim Thomas, who slid out of the crease to his right.

The embarrassing final score was not entirely indicative of the Crimson's play as three of UVM's five goals were scored in the third period.

With less than 13 minutes remaining, Harvard trailed the Cats by only a goal.

"I thought we outplayed them for two periods," Harvard coach Ronn Tomassonni said. "We've been playing pretty good hockey for awhile. We just haven't been able to translate that into wins and goals, in particular. We're getting some real good chances, we're working real hard, but we're not finishing."

Friday night's lack of offensive production was the Crimson's most pressing concern. Games are rarely won by teams which post a single goal.

"We've talked about it a lot," senior forward Joe Craigen said. "If I had the answer, we wouldn't be scoring one goal a game. It's a big problem and we've got to fix it. It's just a matter of bearing down, shooting the puck, crashing the net and taking advantage of our opportunities when we have them."

On the other hand, the Catamounts boast two all-American Hobey Baker candidates in Eric Perrin and Martin St. Louis who, in particular, know how to bear down and score.

The French Connection from Laval, Quebec contributed four of UVM's five goals. Perrin tallied a hat trick and an assist, while St. Louis earned three assists of his own.

The all-Quebecoise first line of St. Louis-Perrin-Stephane Piche orchestrated the goal that effectively ended the game.

At 12:42 in the third period, a shot by Perrin and save by goalie J.R. Prestifilippo resulted in a rebound recovered by St. Louis off to Prestifilippo's left. St. Louis slipped the puck in front of the goal to Piche, who shot it over a downed Prestifilippo.

Less than three minutes later, the troublesome tandem would strike again. This time St. Louis passed the puck to Vermont defenseman Jonathan Sorg at the right point. Sorg launched a rocket of a shot which Perrin tipped into the upper right hand corner of the goal.

The Catamount's 5-1 victory was capped with a final goal by forward Matt Sanders, who scored with less than 15 seconds remaining in the third. It was the only goal of the contest in which neither St. Louis nor Perrin was involved.

"They have two great hockey players [in St. Louis and Perrin] on that team and they took over that third period," Tomassoni said. "They're talented kids, but they've also got that attitude, that hunger, the confidence to finish plays, and that's what this team needs to get."

"There are two excellent players they have on their team," Prestifilippo said. "They're very good, very crafty and I thought we held them in check early, but then they burned us a couple of times. I think tomorrow night [against Dartmouth] will be a tell-tale sign for the team."

Saturday, the team headed down Interstate 89 to Hanover to face the Big Green. And, after two periods, the Crimson found itself in a situation identical to the previous night's loss.

In the first period, Dartmouth jumped out to an early two-point lead, but Harvard came back to within one after a goal by junior forward Henry Higdon.

Demonstrating tremendous puck handling skills, Higdon skated in alone down the left side against Dartmouth goalie Eric Almon. Just wide of the left pipe, Higdon slipped the puck behind the goaltender into the net. Once again, the score stood 2-1 before play in the third period.

Would it be deja vu or victory? Would a hard-fought game again be lost in the final period?

Forwards Doug Sproule and Joe Craigen were determined not to turn the weekend into a double feature.

At 14:06 in the third, Craigen slid the puck to Sproule, who skated to the left of Almon and tucked the puck away for the game-tying goal.

With less than two minutes to play, senior captain Ashlin Halfnight was called for holding. The Crimson was forced to kill off the crucial penalty without its most experienced defenseman.

Although the Big Green spent the remainder of the period in its offensive zone, the Crimson kept the game tied. Harvard players, on the defensive, dove to the ice repeatedly to break up Dartmouth's passes and shot attempts, taking the game into overtime.

At 3:11 in the extra period, Sproule found the net a second time. Craigen saw an open Sproule in front of Almon and delivered the puck right onto the blade of his stick. Without hesitation Sproule blasted a shot into the left of the net.

"Craigen fed [the puck] to me," Sproule said. "I was wide open and I just shot it as hard as I could to the upper part of the net and it went in.... It's all confidence."

"The team has been struggling offensively and to fall behind 2-0 after one period with the lack of goal production, it was a great character win," Tomassoni said. "We've been playing well. We just haven't had a whole lot to show for it."

Harvard left its bench and flooded onto the ice in celebration, finishing well for the first time in the New Year. Harvard  1 Vermont  5

Harvard  3 Dartmouth  2

Harvard  3 Dartmouth  2