Goldilocks Avoid Dreaded Trip North

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And with a playoff berth on the line and with the threat of another road trip to the North Country next weekend looming, the Harvard men's hockey team took itself to the limit.

During the national anthem before Saturday night's win over Dartmouth, bleached blond heads stretched the width of Bright Hockey arena, a perfect vision of team solidarity. The Crimson (13-14-2, 8-12-2 ECAC) pulled together in a last ditch effort to make the seniors' final home game of their college careers a game to remember.

And that they did. With the playoffs up for grabs Friday night, the Crimson battled back from a 3-1 deficit to claim victory over Vermont (13-16-2, 7-13-2 ECAC).

And before dropping the puck on Saturday night, the crowd paid tribute to Harvard's four graduating seniors--captain Craig Adams, Rob Millar, Ben Storey, and Clayton Rodgers--setting the stage for the Crimson's 4-2 win over Dartmouth (10-17-2, 6-14-2 ECAC).

"It's nice to end like this. I think we've won our last six games here," Adams said. "Wedidn't win as many here over the past four yearsas we would have liked, but to go 6-0 at home isdefinitely refreshing to have on your mind."

Fight the Power

Most of the season, the Crimson struggledgreatly with power play opportunities. In January,Harvard suffered from a power play drought ofalmost 30 chances before junior Scott Turco brokethe streak against Union.

However, the Crimson had no shortage of powerplay opportunities and goals last weekend. Harvardnotched four power play goals on 11 chances toaverage 36 percent on the power play, a starkcontrast to its season average of 15.3 percent.

And even more importantly, both game-winninggoals for the Crimson were power play goals.

The Catamounts surged to an early 2-0first-period lead. Vermont's Graham Mink scoredoff a second rebound at 7:50 into the first andfollowed up ten minutes later with a power playgoal that knocked the wind out of the Crimson'ssails.

But the Crimson battled back as sophomore SteveMoore made his presence felt on the ice. Withbarely 30 seconds to play in the first, Moore cutVermont's lead in half, scoring the first of theweekend's power play goals. Harvard's pair ofpoint-men, Storey and linemate Matt Scorsune,assisted Moore with a deflection in front of thenet.

Though a power play goal clinched the win forHarvard over Dartmouth the following night, Fridaynight's game was indicative of the strengths ofthe Crimson's power play ability in recent games.

"Nice to see the power play get a couple ofgoals," said Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni. "Icertainly think their confidence is growing, andit's a good sign going in to the playoffs. We werereally moving the puck around but we had the gooseegg. But it just shows that if you keep working atit, you'll put the puck in the net."

The key to Harvard's power play opportunitieswas its passing game. Having two excellent pointmen is a definite advantage, and the Crimsonalways capitalizes on its man-up advantages whenit makes full use of Scorsune and Storey. Scorsunehimself had a blast from center point 7:37 intothe second period against the Catamounts, beatingVermont's Andrew Allen high in the net.

"I don't think we've changed anything. We'vefound a combination that works with Moore, [Chris]Bala, Millar, Ben and Matt," Adams said. "They areour power play right now, and they are putting thepuck in the net. And they really should, with thetalent they have."

Harvard's power play lapsed some-what in thesecond period, and was unable to use Scorsune andStorey effectively. Instead, it resorted to simplylooking to blast the puck in from the point. Itspassing wasn't entirely accurate, and it didn'thave men crashing in on the net.

And fittingly, Millar, who has been praised asbeing a dominant force on the power play, endedhis home-ice career with a game-winning power playgoal over Dartmouth on Saturday.

Millar sat out the end of the St. Lawrencegame, and was also replaced by freshman DerekNowak on the top line against Vermont at the endof the third period. Suffering from a bit of ascoring drought, Millar fought to reestablishhimself, and did so accordingly.

"We've changed the personnel in the past coupleof weeks, so it was only a matter of time beforewe put the puck in the net" Millar said. "We havefour guys out there who have been draftedrelatively high, and we just have a lot of talentout there on the power play, so it was bound to goin sooner or later."

Jockeying for Position

Heading into the playoffs, the Crimson hasdefinitely caught some lucky breaks in terms ofposition. Capitalizing on power play opportunitiesand playing very offensively has given the Crimsonan eighth-place spot in the playoffs. Harvard willplay RPI in the first round.

Playoff positioning came down to this weekend'sgames, as Dartmouth was eliminated by Brown's 5-0win over Vermont on Saturday. RPI tied Yale 2-2,and Princeton defeated Union 5-0. If RPI had lost,the Crimson would be facing Princeton thisweekend.

If the Crimson had split the weekend, they'd beheading back up to Clarkson or St. Lawrence, aprospect that few teams in the ECAC would want toface. But if the Crimson continues to battle aswell as it did this weekend, the threat of theSaints and the Knights along the line willcertainly be less daunting.

Especially if they keep the blond hair

Fight the Power

Most of the season, the Crimson struggledgreatly with power play opportunities. In January,Harvard suffered from a power play drought ofalmost 30 chances before junior Scott Turco brokethe streak against Union.

However, the Crimson had no shortage of powerplay opportunities and goals last weekend. Harvardnotched four power play goals on 11 chances toaverage 36 percent on the power play, a starkcontrast to its season average of 15.3 percent.

And even more importantly, both game-winninggoals for the Crimson were power play goals.

The Catamounts surged to an early 2-0first-period lead. Vermont's Graham Mink scoredoff a second rebound at 7:50 into the first andfollowed up ten minutes later with a power playgoal that knocked the wind out of the Crimson'ssails.

But the Crimson battled back as sophomore SteveMoore made his presence felt on the ice. Withbarely 30 seconds to play in the first, Moore cutVermont's lead in half, scoring the first of theweekend's power play goals. Harvard's pair ofpoint-men, Storey and linemate Matt Scorsune,assisted Moore with a deflection in front of thenet.

Though a power play goal clinched the win forHarvard over Dartmouth the following night, Fridaynight's game was indicative of the strengths ofthe Crimson's power play ability in recent games.

"Nice to see the power play get a couple ofgoals," said Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni. "Icertainly think their confidence is growing, andit's a good sign going in to the playoffs. We werereally moving the puck around but we had the gooseegg. But it just shows that if you keep working atit, you'll put the puck in the net."

The key to Harvard's power play opportunitieswas its passing game. Having two excellent pointmen is a definite advantage, and the Crimsonalways capitalizes on its man-up advantages whenit makes full use of Scorsune and Storey. Scorsunehimself had a blast from center point 7:37 intothe second period against the Catamounts, beatingVermont's Andrew Allen high in the net.

"I don't think we've changed anything. We'vefound a combination that works with Moore, [Chris]Bala, Millar, Ben and Matt," Adams said. "They areour power play right now, and they are putting thepuck in the net. And they really should, with thetalent they have."

Harvard's power play lapsed some-what in thesecond period, and was unable to use Scorsune andStorey effectively. Instead, it resorted to simplylooking to blast the puck in from the point. Itspassing wasn't entirely accurate, and it didn'thave men crashing in on the net.

And fittingly, Millar, who has been praised asbeing a dominant force on the power play, endedhis home-ice career with a game-winning power playgoal over Dartmouth on Saturday.

Millar sat out the end of the St. Lawrencegame, and was also replaced by freshman DerekNowak on the top line against Vermont at the endof the third period. Suffering from a bit of ascoring drought, Millar fought to reestablishhimself, and did so accordingly.

"We've changed the personnel in the past coupleof weeks, so it was only a matter of time beforewe put the puck in the net" Millar said. "We havefour guys out there who have been draftedrelatively high, and we just have a lot of talentout there on the power play, so it was bound to goin sooner or later."

Jockeying for Position

Heading into the playoffs, the Crimson hasdefinitely caught some lucky breaks in terms ofposition. Capitalizing on power play opportunitiesand playing very offensively has given the Crimsonan eighth-place spot in the playoffs. Harvard willplay RPI in the first round.

Playoff positioning came down to this weekend'sgames, as Dartmouth was eliminated by Brown's 5-0win over Vermont on Saturday. RPI tied Yale 2-2,and Princeton defeated Union 5-0. If RPI had lost,the Crimson would be facing Princeton thisweekend.

If the Crimson had split the weekend, they'd beheading back up to Clarkson or St. Lawrence, aprospect that few teams in the ECAC would want toface. But if the Crimson continues to battle aswell as it did this weekend, the threat of theSaints and the Knights along the line willcertainly be less daunting.

Especially if they keep the blond hair