M. Hockey: Call It a Comeback

During the first intermission Friday night, Harvard celebrated the 10th anniversary of Ed Krayer '90's overtime goal to defeat Minnesota 4-3 for the national championship.

But not all the members of the 1989 team in attendance had time to participate in the nostalgia. YALE  2 HARVARD  3 PRINCETON  2 HARVARD  5

One of then-Coach Bill Cleary '56 assistants, Ronn Tomassoni, had more pressing business in the building. Now the head coach himself, he spent the break reminding the struggling Crimson that it did not deserve to trail 2-1 to Yale after an energetic and physical first period.

Far from the college hockey force of old, the 1999 Crimson clung to the last ECAC playoff spot by just one point, and Tomassoni's squad could feel the pressure of the teams underneath it.

Perhaps spurred on by its revered alumni, Harvard recaptured a small slice of that 1989 magic and came back to defeat the Elis 3-2 Friday. The Crimson then rolled a magnificent four-goal second period into a 5-3 win over Princeton on Saturday.

The Crimson turned in two of its most inspired and complete performances of the season and showed that it may be ready for the playoffs.

"These were two huge wins [and] it makes gong to Cornell, Colgate, Clarkson and St. Lawrence a hell of a lot easier," sophomore defenseman Graham Morrell said.

Harvard 3, Yale 2

Friday night, Bright played host to a family reunion which featured more than just the extended kin of the championship team

Yale freshman forward Spencer Rodgers, brother of Harvard senior Clayton Rodgers, Yale senior forward Mark Turco, brother of Harvard junior forward Scott Turco, and Yale junior forward Mark Sproule, brother of forward Doug Sproule `98, all stopped by to say hello.

As can happen in family gatherings, relatives can spoil perfectly good evenings.

That's what the three threatened to do Friday night as both Rodgers and Turco scored in the first period, while Sproule provided the primary assist on Turco's goal to give the Elis a 2-1 lead after the first

Harvard junior goaltender J.R Prestifilippo interceded in this sibling rivalry, not allowing any more goals the rest of the way and making 14 saves over the final two periodsto allow his team to come back and win, 3-2.

"We had an awful lot of jump out theretonight," Tomassoni said. "[After trailing 2-1] noone got discouraged, and then J.R. shut the door,and that's a sign of a great goaltender."

Senior forward Rob Millar scored his secondgoal of the game at 2:09 of the second period toknot the score, 2-2.

An errant Bulldog clearing attempt bounced offa skate right to Millar, who was standing at theright faceoff circle. Millar took a huge windupand blasted it past Yale senior goaltender AlexWestlund.

"I got a nice pass from someone on the Yaleteam," Millar said. "I think it caught theirgoalie by surprise and I put it by him."

The game-winner came at the end of a quirkyrush into the offensive zone. Three Harvardplayers were lined up down the middle of thezone--6'6 freshman forward Kyle Clark plantedhimself down low, junior defenseman Mark Moore hadthe puck in the high slot and junior forward BrettChodorow trailed the play into the middle point.Moore got the puck to Chodorow, who placed it intothe top right corner past a well-screenedWestlund.

Clark's secondary assist on the play earned himhis first career point.

From the opening face-off, the Crimson playedwith a determination and an energy it has rarelyshown this year. Moreover, Harvard sustained itthroughout the game. Harvard's physical play andskating smothered a potent Yale offense, led byjunior forward Jeff Hamilton, who had anECAC-leading 34 points in 20 games entering theweekend.

Given a green light to roam wherever he wantson offense, Hamilton's normally ubiquitouspresence turned invisible against Harvard.

"We played very aggressively," juniordefenseman Matt Scorsune said. "We didn't givethem the time they needed. Anytime Hamilton hadthe puck, we wanted to pressure him."

Even on the power play, Hamilton could not findany real estate. The Crimson rotated very well,challenged along the boards, and forced Yale tokeep the puck at the perimeter.

Harvard killed off all four Yale manadvantages, including a tense one with 4:27remaining in the game. The Bulldogs whizzed thepuck around its box but never could set up a greatscoring chance.

Prestifilippo covered for the rare Harvarddefensive mistake, including two breakaway savesin the second period. The second came with 2:20left on the clock as freshman defenseman PeterCapouch stepped up to play a puck in the neutralzone with Bulldog junior forward Jeff Brow behindhim at the blue line. The puck ultimately ended upon Brow's stick, but Prestifilippo blocked thefive-hole.

"A kid came down with a lot of speed and I justtried to be aggressive," Prestifilippo said.

Harvard had trouble scoring on breakawaysitself. Sophomore forward Chris Bala had twogolden chances. Just 1:1C into the third, Baladarted in on Westlund and made a slick transferfrom the forehand to the backhand to maneuveraround him. As he switched hands, the puck slidoff his stick.

The Crimson played without one of its topscorers, sophomore forward Steve Moore. Moore,suffering from a hip pointer, would go on to playSaturday night.

It also lost his replacement as the second linepivot, sophomore Harry Schwefel. Schwefel sufferedan undisclosed injury sometime in the late secondperiod or early third.

Millar opened the scoring in the game,one-timing a beautiful cross-ice pass by Adams at4:48 of the first period.

Millar's productivity in Friday night's gamewas more remarkable considering he did notpractice all week and just received clearance fromthe doctor earlier in the day that his viralinfection was nothing serious.

"This win was all those eighteen skaters outthere," Prestifilippo said. "They went out thereand laid it on the line for sixty minutes. We paidthe price all over the ice and it showed on thescoreboard. And that's nice."

Harvard 5, Princeton 3

If Harvard makes any noise in the ECAC duringthe remainder of the regular season or in thepostseason, remember the second period fromSaturday night.

For one period, Harvard showed its fullpotential. It skated well up and down the ice,banged along the boards and physically dominatedone of the conference's best teams, which up untiltwo weeks ago was ranked in the U.S. CollegeHockey Online Top 10.

The Crimson parlayed its advantage into asurprising four-goal outburst to take a 4-1 leadand held on in the third period to win 5-3.

"We started the game a little slow," Adamssaid. "We were really able to pour it on in thesecond and take the play to them."

Fitting the rare offensive explosion, the goalthat started it all was the rarest of scores forthe Crimson--a power play goal. Harvard had notconverted on its previous 29 power play attempts.Tomassoni had tried every possible combination ofplayers and schemes, with different units actuallyplaying entirely different power play formations.

At 1:42 on the second, it finally clicked.Morrell received the puck at the left point andskated to the middle. His shot deflected off aPrinceton defender and past well-screened freshmanTiger goaltender Dave Stathos to tie the score,1-1.

"We moved the puck really well on the powerplay," captain Craig Adams said. "We were gettinga lot of chances and it had to go in sooner orlater.

Adams gave his team the lead it would neverrelinquish.

With both teams skating four aside, all theplayers except Adams were bunched on the left sideof the ice in the neutral zone. Sophomoredefenseman Liam McCarthy hit Adams with across-ice pass and the captain hurried the puck into the zone, stopping in the right face-off circleand blasting it by Stathos at 12:55.

"Liam gave me a great pass," Adams said. "Ijust closed my eyes, teed it up and hoped for thebest."

McCarthy received his first career point withthe primary assist on Adams' goal.

"Liam's seen a lot more ice time lately andhe's deserved it," Tomassoni said. "He's beenplaying very, very well."

Chodorow picked up his second goal of theweekend with an unassisted strike at 14:21, andfreshman forward Jeff Stonehouse notched his fifthof the season by one-timing a Millar pass fivehole to finish the Harvard deluge with 55 secondsremaining.

At 18:28, Prestifilippo capped the period withan unbelievable glove save on Princeton forwardSyl Apps. Apps marked a booming slap shot off arebound for the top corner from about 10 feet thatPrestifilippo snatched.

"Presto played real well," Morrell said. "Hemay have had a shaky goal at the beginning of[Friday] night, but then he said that's it--nomore."

Harvard never backed down physically to theTigers and, as it did the previous night againstHamilton, effectively checked the Tigers top guns:seniors Jeff Halpern, Scott Bertoli and Apps.

After a sluggish first period where the Tigerscaught Harvard not moving its feet and lungingafter the puck, the Crimson tightened up andinitiated the contact.

"When we are at our best is when we arephysical and skating," Adams said. "We did thattonight."

Adams and Tiger junior Benoit Morin had oneexchange after the whistle in the second that setthe tone for the rest of the game. Normal pushingand shoving ended with Adams leveling and earningboth minor penalties.

The physical play carried over into the thirdperiod when Steve Moore, who hurried his return tofill in for the injured Schwefel, flipped the puckover new Princeton goalie junior Craig Bradley ona breakaway at 3:04.

"It was a gutsy and courageous effort [byMoore] tonight," Tomassoni said. "It was nice thathe could add a goal on the breakaway."

However, that was Harvard's only shot of theperiod as the game tilted the Tigers way whenHarvard began taking penalties. At one point, theCrimson was forced to kill two consecutivefive-on-three power plays.

Referee Fred Campatelli, who called a loosegame in the second, tightened things considerablyin the third. He nabbed Harvard for a few "make-upcalls" and for a few undisciplined plays, such asan unnecessary hitting after the whistle penaltyby Clark.

"We lost our discipline at times," Tomassonisaid. "But it takes two to tango and we often gotcaught taking retaliation penalties."

Sophomore Kirk Lamb and sophomore Ethan Doyleboth scored for the Tigers, but Prestifilippo made11 saves in the period and 29 for the game.

In an example of the game's roughness, seniordefenseman Ben Storey left the game in the secondperiod after a cheap shot by Bertoli. There was noword on his injury.

On a weekend in which Harvard's best team everreturned to Cambridge, the Crimson turned in itsbest performances of the season. It picked up avery difficult four points, allowing it to moveinto a tie for eighth place with Vermont.

"We finally met the challenge this weekend,"Morrell said. "We actually took the play to them[and] played with more intensity than we've hadall season long."

The Crimson actually met two challenges thisweekend. First, Harvard took down two of theconference's finest teams--last season's regularseason champion (Yale) and ECAC tournamentchampion (Princeton).

More importantly, it met the challenge of itshistory--the glorious past that culminated onApril 1, 1989 in the St. Paul Civic Center. Thatspirit must carry into the final six games of theseason.

"[The '89 players] are gonna read the papersand see how we are doing," Morrell said. "A lot oftimes I've felt we've let the program down.

"It's nice to get two wins for them. It means alot."

HARVARD, 3-2 at Bright Hockey Center

Yale  2  0  0  --  2Harvard  1  2  0  --  3

First Period

Har--Millar 1 (Adams) 4:48.

Yal--Rodgers 1 (Dart, Jelemic) 6:02.

Yal--M. Turco 1 (M. Sproule, Shea) 9:27.

Second Period

Har--Millar 2 (unassisted) 2:09.

Har--Chodorow 1 (M. Moore, Clark) 18:04

Third Period

None.

Saves: Yal--Westlund 6-7-7 20;Har--Prestifilippo 9-8-6 23.

Power Play: Yal--0/4; Har--0/5.

Attendance: 2,312

HARVARD, 5-3 at Bright Hockey Center

Princeton  1  0  2  --  3Harvard  0  4  1  --  5

First Period

Pri--Parsons 1 (unassisted) 3:27.

Second Period

Har--Morrell 1 (S. Moore, Clark) 1:42. (PPG)

Har--Adams 1 (McCarthy, Scorsune) 12:55.

Har--Chodorow 1 (unassisted) 14:21.

Har--Stonehouse 1 (Millar, Adams) 19:05.

Third Period

Har--S. Moore 1 (Bala) 3:04.

Pri--Lamb 1 (Campbell, Corrinet) 6:14. (5x3)

Pri--Doyle 1 (Apps) 9:20. (SHG)

Saves: Pri--Stathos 10-10-0 20, Bradley0-0 -0 0; Har--Prestifilippo 9-9-11 29.

Power Play: Princeton--1/6; Har--1/7.

Attendance: 2,627CrimsonPaul S. GutmanCHRIS CROSS: CHRIS BALA (26) rushesup the ice in earlier action. Bala assisted onSteve Moore's goal in the Crimson's 5-3 win overPrinceton on Saturday.

"We had an awful lot of jump out theretonight," Tomassoni said. "[After trailing 2-1] noone got discouraged, and then J.R. shut the door,and that's a sign of a great goaltender."

Senior forward Rob Millar scored his secondgoal of the game at 2:09 of the second period toknot the score, 2-2.

An errant Bulldog clearing attempt bounced offa skate right to Millar, who was standing at theright faceoff circle. Millar took a huge windupand blasted it past Yale senior goaltender AlexWestlund.

"I got a nice pass from someone on the Yaleteam," Millar said. "I think it caught theirgoalie by surprise and I put it by him."

The game-winner came at the end of a quirkyrush into the offensive zone. Three Harvardplayers were lined up down the middle of thezone--6'6 freshman forward Kyle Clark plantedhimself down low, junior defenseman Mark Moore hadthe puck in the high slot and junior forward BrettChodorow trailed the play into the middle point.Moore got the puck to Chodorow, who placed it intothe top right corner past a well-screenedWestlund.

Clark's secondary assist on the play earned himhis first career point.

From the opening face-off, the Crimson playedwith a determination and an energy it has rarelyshown this year. Moreover, Harvard sustained itthroughout the game. Harvard's physical play andskating smothered a potent Yale offense, led byjunior forward Jeff Hamilton, who had anECAC-leading 34 points in 20 games entering theweekend.

Given a green light to roam wherever he wantson offense, Hamilton's normally ubiquitouspresence turned invisible against Harvard.

"We played very aggressively," juniordefenseman Matt Scorsune said. "We didn't givethem the time they needed. Anytime Hamilton hadthe puck, we wanted to pressure him."

Even on the power play, Hamilton could not findany real estate. The Crimson rotated very well,challenged along the boards, and forced Yale tokeep the puck at the perimeter.

Harvard killed off all four Yale manadvantages, including a tense one with 4:27remaining in the game. The Bulldogs whizzed thepuck around its box but never could set up a greatscoring chance.

Prestifilippo covered for the rare Harvarddefensive mistake, including two breakaway savesin the second period. The second came with 2:20left on the clock as freshman defenseman PeterCapouch stepped up to play a puck in the neutralzone with Bulldog junior forward Jeff Brow behindhim at the blue line. The puck ultimately ended upon Brow's stick, but Prestifilippo blocked thefive-hole.

"A kid came down with a lot of speed and I justtried to be aggressive," Prestifilippo said.

Harvard had trouble scoring on breakawaysitself. Sophomore forward Chris Bala had twogolden chances. Just 1:1C into the third, Baladarted in on Westlund and made a slick transferfrom the forehand to the backhand to maneuveraround him. As he switched hands, the puck slidoff his stick.

The Crimson played without one of its topscorers, sophomore forward Steve Moore. Moore,suffering from a hip pointer, would go on to playSaturday night.

It also lost his replacement as the second linepivot, sophomore Harry Schwefel. Schwefel sufferedan undisclosed injury sometime in the late secondperiod or early third.

Millar opened the scoring in the game,one-timing a beautiful cross-ice pass by Adams at4:48 of the first period.

Millar's productivity in Friday night's gamewas more remarkable considering he did notpractice all week and just received clearance fromthe doctor earlier in the day that his viralinfection was nothing serious.

"This win was all those eighteen skaters outthere," Prestifilippo said. "They went out thereand laid it on the line for sixty minutes. We paidthe price all over the ice and it showed on thescoreboard. And that's nice."

Harvard 5, Princeton 3

If Harvard makes any noise in the ECAC duringthe remainder of the regular season or in thepostseason, remember the second period fromSaturday night.

For one period, Harvard showed its fullpotential. It skated well up and down the ice,banged along the boards and physically dominatedone of the conference's best teams, which up untiltwo weeks ago was ranked in the U.S. CollegeHockey Online Top 10.

The Crimson parlayed its advantage into asurprising four-goal outburst to take a 4-1 leadand held on in the third period to win 5-3.

"We started the game a little slow," Adamssaid. "We were really able to pour it on in thesecond and take the play to them."

Fitting the rare offensive explosion, the goalthat started it all was the rarest of scores forthe Crimson--a power play goal. Harvard had notconverted on its previous 29 power play attempts.Tomassoni had tried every possible combination ofplayers and schemes, with different units actuallyplaying entirely different power play formations.

At 1:42 on the second, it finally clicked.Morrell received the puck at the left point andskated to the middle. His shot deflected off aPrinceton defender and past well-screened freshmanTiger goaltender Dave Stathos to tie the score,1-1.

"We moved the puck really well on the powerplay," captain Craig Adams said. "We were gettinga lot of chances and it had to go in sooner orlater.

Adams gave his team the lead it would neverrelinquish.

With both teams skating four aside, all theplayers except Adams were bunched on the left sideof the ice in the neutral zone. Sophomoredefenseman Liam McCarthy hit Adams with across-ice pass and the captain hurried the puck into the zone, stopping in the right face-off circleand blasting it by Stathos at 12:55.

"Liam gave me a great pass," Adams said. "Ijust closed my eyes, teed it up and hoped for thebest."

McCarthy received his first career point withthe primary assist on Adams' goal.

"Liam's seen a lot more ice time lately andhe's deserved it," Tomassoni said. "He's beenplaying very, very well."

Chodorow picked up his second goal of theweekend with an unassisted strike at 14:21, andfreshman forward Jeff Stonehouse notched his fifthof the season by one-timing a Millar pass fivehole to finish the Harvard deluge with 55 secondsremaining.

At 18:28, Prestifilippo capped the period withan unbelievable glove save on Princeton forwardSyl Apps. Apps marked a booming slap shot off arebound for the top corner from about 10 feet thatPrestifilippo snatched.

"Presto played real well," Morrell said. "Hemay have had a shaky goal at the beginning of[Friday] night, but then he said that's it--nomore."

Harvard never backed down physically to theTigers and, as it did the previous night againstHamilton, effectively checked the Tigers top guns:seniors Jeff Halpern, Scott Bertoli and Apps.

After a sluggish first period where the Tigerscaught Harvard not moving its feet and lungingafter the puck, the Crimson tightened up andinitiated the contact.

"When we are at our best is when we arephysical and skating," Adams said. "We did thattonight."

Adams and Tiger junior Benoit Morin had oneexchange after the whistle in the second that setthe tone for the rest of the game. Normal pushingand shoving ended with Adams leveling and earningboth minor penalties.

The physical play carried over into the thirdperiod when Steve Moore, who hurried his return tofill in for the injured Schwefel, flipped the puckover new Princeton goalie junior Craig Bradley ona breakaway at 3:04.

"It was a gutsy and courageous effort [byMoore] tonight," Tomassoni said. "It was nice thathe could add a goal on the breakaway."

However, that was Harvard's only shot of theperiod as the game tilted the Tigers way whenHarvard began taking penalties. At one point, theCrimson was forced to kill two consecutivefive-on-three power plays.

Referee Fred Campatelli, who called a loosegame in the second, tightened things considerablyin the third. He nabbed Harvard for a few "make-upcalls" and for a few undisciplined plays, such asan unnecessary hitting after the whistle penaltyby Clark.

"We lost our discipline at times," Tomassonisaid. "But it takes two to tango and we often gotcaught taking retaliation penalties."

Sophomore Kirk Lamb and sophomore Ethan Doyleboth scored for the Tigers, but Prestifilippo made11 saves in the period and 29 for the game.

In an example of the game's roughness, seniordefenseman Ben Storey left the game in the secondperiod after a cheap shot by Bertoli. There was noword on his injury.

On a weekend in which Harvard's best team everreturned to Cambridge, the Crimson turned in itsbest performances of the season. It picked up avery difficult four points, allowing it to moveinto a tie for eighth place with Vermont.

"We finally met the challenge this weekend,"Morrell said. "We actually took the play to them[and] played with more intensity than we've hadall season long."

The Crimson actually met two challenges thisweekend. First, Harvard took down two of theconference's finest teams--last season's regularseason champion (Yale) and ECAC tournamentchampion (Princeton).

More importantly, it met the challenge of itshistory--the glorious past that culminated onApril 1, 1989 in the St. Paul Civic Center. Thatspirit must carry into the final six games of theseason.

"[The '89 players] are gonna read the papersand see how we are doing," Morrell said. "A lot oftimes I've felt we've let the program down.

"It's nice to get two wins for them. It means alot."

HARVARD, 3-2 at Bright Hockey Center

Yale  2  0  0  --  2Harvard  1  2  0  --  3

First Period

Har--Millar 1 (Adams) 4:48.

Yal--Rodgers 1 (Dart, Jelemic) 6:02.

Yal--M. Turco 1 (M. Sproule, Shea) 9:27.

Second Period

Har--Millar 2 (unassisted) 2:09.

Har--Chodorow 1 (M. Moore, Clark) 18:04

Third Period

None.

Saves: Yal--Westlund 6-7-7 20;Har--Prestifilippo 9-8-6 23.

Power Play: Yal--0/4; Har--0/5.

Attendance: 2,312

HARVARD, 5-3 at Bright Hockey Center

Princeton  1  0  2  --  3Harvard  0  4  1  --  5

First Period

Pri--Parsons 1 (unassisted) 3:27.

Second Period

Har--Morrell 1 (S. Moore, Clark) 1:42. (PPG)

Har--Adams 1 (McCarthy, Scorsune) 12:55.

Har--Chodorow 1 (unassisted) 14:21.

Har--Stonehouse 1 (Millar, Adams) 19:05.

Third Period

Har--S. Moore 1 (Bala) 3:04.

Pri--Lamb 1 (Campbell, Corrinet) 6:14. (5x3)

Pri--Doyle 1 (Apps) 9:20. (SHG)

Saves: Pri--Stathos 10-10-0 20, Bradley0-0 -0 0; Har--Prestifilippo 9-9-11 29.

Power Play: Princeton--1/6; Har--1/7.

Attendance: 2,627CrimsonPaul S. GutmanCHRIS CROSS: CHRIS BALA (26) rushesup the ice in earlier action. Bala assisted onSteve Moore's goal in the Crimson's 5-3 win overPrinceton on Saturday.