867-5309: Crimson On a Mission

SCHENECTADY, N.Y.--The Harvard men's hockey team had a little extra baggage to carry with it on its second (and shortest) of three annual trips to upstate New York: the burden to prove that its last three losses in four games was only a minor setback.

After Harvard's first loss of the season to Colgate, sophomore defenseman Peter Capouch said, "I don't think anyone expected us to go undefeated this year."

Probably not. But Harvard dropped a pair of games to Boston University and Brown, two teams that the Crimson was expected to beat.

Harvard had a mission going in to No. 8 Rensselaer and Union last weekend to re-ignite that flame that sparked its most successful start since the 1993-94 season.

And though it took one game to get its legs back, the Crimson's successful 5-1 stint against the Skating Dutchmen gave it something to build on again.

The loss to B.U. two weeks ago was almost excusable, given that it was a non-conference game after a ten-day respite. This match up was more for pride than points, and the Crimson was forced to swallow it as the Terriers claimed a 2-1 victory.

Every team has its share of good games and bad games. Though we have high expectations for Coach Mark Mazzoleni, his system is still new and the Crimson is bound to stumble a few times along the way.

However, that does not explain why Harvard took a 4-2 drumming at the hands of hapless Brown, a team who had yet to not a win and break a six-game losing streak.

And adding insult to injury, this was the same team that the Crimson had defeated 1-0 in the season opener in October.

When asked about his team's inability to capitalize on opportunities and prevent game-winning errors, Mazzoleni was unable to pinpoint the problem.

"Of course we have to give credit to our opponent, but that's two times in a row that we've come out of the chute at home and we haven't gotten it done," Mazzoleni said. "It's not acceptable."

With its winning record hanging precariously in the balance, Harvard knew that last weekend would be an important turning point in the season. Another pair of losses would tarnish its league standing and further undermine the confidence of the team.

Being pitted against RPI, however, was a most difficult way to begin weekend. One of the top ten teams in the nation, the Engineers' ECAC record is no reflection of its current performance.

Harvard has not defeated RPI in a regular season affair since 1996-97, but it did defeat the Engineers 2-1 in Game One of the ECAC Quarterfinals last year.

Unfortunately, the Crimson could not snap RPI's two-game streak in the series, falling 3-2 to extend its losing streak to three games.

But contrary to the previous two losses, Mazzoleni could confidently say that his team came out strongly on Friday. For the first time in a while, Harvard got an early jump on the competition, holding RPI at bay for over half of the game.

The Crimson's performance was anything but perfect, but it was at least a step in the right direction.

And Harvard advanced even further with its 5-1 trouncing of Union at Achilles Rink.

For those of you familiar with the Skating Dutchmen, you might remember that they largely unsuccessful last year, finishing in last place with a pathetic 1-19-2 record.

But the Dutchmen have come a long way, and its victories over first-place Colgate and former powerhouse Clarkson are a testament to that.

The Crimson deserve a great deal of credit for defeating Union on Saturday night, considering that it was perhaps one of its best individual and overall games all season.

Harvard tested Union goaltender Brandon Snee with 22 shots, and managed to capitalize on the numerous opportunities that its offense generated

And junior winger Chris Bala netted a pair of goals, his first multiple-goal game in two years.

And in his second start between the pipes this season, junior netminder Oli Jonas was fantastic, stopping 30 attempts, many of which could have changed the course of the game.

But the spark that the Crimson had been lacking for quite some time was finally back in the second period after Harvard shut down Union's power play, despite an extended five-on-three advantage.

Senior winger Brett Chodorow was called for interference at 6:23 in the second, and barely ten seconds later, junior center Steve Moore was handed a five-minute major for a dubious kneeing call. Senior defenseman Mark Moore replaced Chodorow in the box, giving Union a two-man advantage for almost three minutes.

Once the Crimson reached even strength, it was clear that Harvard was in the driver's seat poised for its first victory since Cornell on Nov. 13.

The Crimson would score two more goals before Union could notch its first and only goal--with the goaltender pulled--at 17:17 in the third period.

"If we have any aspirations of obtaining home ice in the playoffs, this was a big game for us," Mazzoleni said.

All told, breaking the three-game losing streak was very important for Harvard's morale.

And thought it may be a bit early to think about the post-season, if the Crimson can continue to post big wins like it did last Saturday, home ice will be inevitable.

Mission accomplished.