867-5309: Give the Rookies Some Time

Some things are just a given at a Harvard men's hockey game.

In addition to creating much of the team's offense as the Crimson's prototypical power forward, captain Steve Moore is known for his tremendous checking ability--few days will pass without him leveling someone to make the play.

And hardly a game will go by without younger brother Dominic simply abusing the opponent's defense, with his flashy puck-handling ability.

With the loss of nine seniors to graduation, there are considerably fewer constants to rely on. But even this early in the season, it is pretty clear that Harvard has very little to worry about.

The addition of nine new faces, the return of a veteran from a serious injury, and a general revamping of Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni's highly touted system have not only maintained the Crimson's current level of success, but have picked it up a notch.

With practice, the rookies are bound to improve over the course of the season. Unfortunately, the long-run success that has been predicted for right now is hampered by their inexperience at the collegiate level.

Defensive breakdowns and an inability to stick to the game plan in the third period handed Harvard a 5-3 loss against Vermont in the home opener.

That said, these so-called inexperienced new faces combined for six points and half of the Crimson's goals this weekend.

"When you are starting a combined 10 freshmen and sophomores, you better hope that some of them get on the score sheet if you are going to have any offense," Mazzoleni said.

Freshman winger Tim Petit gave Harvard the go ahead goal early in the second period against Vermont. Pettit took the puck from deep in his own zone and notched his first collegiate goal at 4:58, only 34 seconds after assistant captain Chris Bala put the Crimson on the board.

"I just took the puck to the net," Pettit said. "A Vermont player was generous enough to finish it off for me."

Pettit was also responsible for the final Harvard insurance goal against the Big Green in its 5-2 victory.

Dominic Moore made a pass from behind the net to Pettit, lurking in the slot, who sent a rebound shot past the line at 7:12 in the final stanza.

But all eyes were on rookie Rob Fried in the second period against Dartmouth as he put up both his first and second career goals with Harvard Saturday night. Amidst a flurry of Crimson shots on the Big Green's Nick

Boucher, Fried took a poke from freshman Tyler Kolarik and slammed home his own rebound at 8:15.

"I had two great linemates in Steve Moore and Tyler Kolarik," Fried said. "It was just a matter of cleaning up the garbage."

To atone for the officials robbing sophomore center Brett Nowak a goal, Fried crashed the net and notched his second strike at 18:32 on the power play.

"Tyler [Kolarik] and Fried play very well together and there's a lot of energy there," Mazzoleni said. "They both press the puck, and complement Steve [Moore] very well. Good things happen when you do that."

In addition, the return of junior Graham Morrell to the blueline was a welcome sight for Harvard fans. A well-known fact that the Crimson defense is the Achilles' heel of the team, Morrell's veteran status provides a boost to the very youthful defense.

"We're still looking for people to step up and take jobs back there," Mazzoleni said. "Graham Morrell played pretty good this weekend for a kid who hasn't played in 14 months. He's still not at full strength, but he did a good job for his first weekend back."

Despite only having less than a week of physical practice, Morrell wasted no time getting back in the thick of things. Numerous times this weekend he sacrificed his body to protect senior netminder Oli Jonas from facing an inordinate number of shots, and he picked up an assist on Pettit's goal against Vermont in the process.

"It feels great to be back," Morrell said. "It's been a long time coming. It's been a year and eight months since I've worn a Harvard jersey, so it was pretty emotional."

Finally, an unlikely trio-the fourth line of juniors Kyle Clark and Jared Cantanucci, and senior Harry Schwefel, generated much of the Crimson's effectiveness and early scoring chances. Characterized by a much simpler and smoother type of play, Schwefel netted a rebound from Clark put the Crimson on the board against Dartmouth with under two minutes to play in the first.

"The fourth line was probably the most effective line," Mazzoleni said. "They played the system that we wanted to play."

Admittedly, these new faces have big shoes to fill. But they've started the process very early in the season, and they're only going to get better.

We're starting to get the flow going," Mazzoleni said. "We have more balance then last year, but we need to show patience because we're a young team."