M. Hockey Splits North Country Trip

POTSDAM, N.Y.--The annual trip to the North Country is by far the worst of the year. After a seven-hour bus ride to the Canadian border, the Harvard men's hockey team then has the privilege of facing two of the premier teams in the ECAC in their own buildings.

But for the first time in four years, the Crimson did not get swept.

No. 13 Harvard (5-3-1, 4-2-1 ECAC) earned a satisfying split against Clarkson (4-4-3, 1-2-2) and St. Lawrence (3-5-3, 2-1-2) over the weekend. The Crimson bounced back from a tough 6-3 loss to the Saints on Friday to dispatch the Golden Knights, 3-1, at Cheel Arena on Saturday.

"It will be nice to have movies on the bus ride home for once after this trip," sophomore center Dominic Moore said. "Most of the guys on this team, including myself, didn't know what it meant to win up here."

Harvard once again relied upon the spectacular goaltending of senior Oli Jonas to keep it in the game through two periods against the Saints and to shut down the Golden Knights. Jonas made 77 saves on the weekend and earned the first star against Clarkson.

"[Our defensive statistics] are [good] because we have goaltending," Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni said Saturday. "He was very, very good [Friday] night and was good again tonight. He's the reason we're having a little bit of success right now."

Harvard 3, Clarkson 1

The last time Harvard won at Cheel Arena, captain Steve Moore was watching his older brother Mark '00 get wined and dined to become the first of the Moores to join the Harvard hockey family.

Saturday, the youngest brother, Dominic, snapped the Crimson's eight-game losing streak against Clarkson with a goal and two assists as Harvard breezed to a 3-1 victory in front of 3,139. It was the first three-point game of the season for a Harvard player.

With the score tied 1-1 halfway through the second period, freshman winger Dennis Packard sprung senior winger Harry Schwefel down the right wing for a two-on-one with Dominic Moore cutting down the middle. Schwefel kept the puck all the way and his wristshot bounced off the glove of senior Clarkson goaltender and trickled into the net at 10:29 for a 2-1 lead.

"It was a nice goal by Harry; he played well [Saturday] night," Dominic Moore said. "He went in on Grant, shot it. It hit his glove and trickled in and I stood waiting off the rebound, but it had already gone in the net."

The Crimson iced the game with 34 seconds left in the middle frame with a very fluid power-play goal. Freshman winger Tim Petit, who was at the left point, hit Steve Moore on the doorstep, and Moore one-timed it. Grant managed to stop Steve Moore, but brother Dominic slammed home the rebound.

Harvard's power play came alive Saturday night, going 2-for-4. Petit scored at 11:47 of the first period for the Crimson's other tally.

"Harvard got some opportune breaks on the power play," Clarkson Coach Mark Morris said. "The one that squirted through was probably one that we'd like to have back, but they got some breaks on the rebound and we didn't. We had plenty of opportunities to win this game."

Dominic Moore's goal finished Grant for the night, and Karl Mattson came out to start the third period for the Golden Knights. It was a rough weekend for Grant, of whom Morris has ever-diminishing confidence. He pulled Grant after giving up two goals on two shots against Brown on Friday.

In a testament to Mazzoleni's recruiting and assistant Coach Ron Rolston's conditioning program, for the first time in recent memory, the Crimson took the physical play to Clarkson. With about seven minutes left in the second period, freshman defenseman Dave McCulloch drilled Matt Poapst into the boards, and the junior winger needed a few minutes before he could gather his thoughts again.

During the final minute of the period, Clarkson freshman Jean Desrochers ran over Jonas well after the whistle sounded. Junior assistant captain Pete Capouch immediately leapt to Jonas' aide, diving over the goalie to reprimand Desrochers. The WWF-like melee ended with Steve Moore coming over to put Desrochers in a headlock, but Desrochers was able to suplex the Crimson captain to the ice.

This was the type of punishment that Clarkson used to inflict upon its opponents to wear them down by the end of the game. Not coincidentally, Rolston used to be Morris' top assistant before joining Mazzoleni's staff.

"Rolston understands young athletes very well," Morris said. "With his love for the weight room, the results are not surprising at Harvard."

The Golden Knights had some harrowing chances to score about midway through the third period to make the game interesting, but a creative Jonas found a way to keep the puck out of the net.

The defense held-up admirably considering that Mazzoleni opted to play only five defensemen, sitting healthy senior Tim Stay and junior Leif Ericson without even dressing an extra forward to compensate. Harvard employed an aggressive two-man forecheck to keep the puck pinned in the Clarkson zone to alleviate some pressure on the blueline and generate more offense.

"We only dressed five defensemen tonight so we wanted to have better support for our 'D,'" Mazzoleni said. "We changed our forecheck up to be more aggressive at the defensive blueline."

Rob McFeeters scored Clarkson's only goal of the night just 44 seconds into the second period to tie the game at 1-1.

Junior winger Jeff Stonehouse missed the contest with a groin injury.

St. Lawrence 6. Harvard 3

St. Lawrence entered Friday night's game averaging just 2.67 goals per game, ninth in the ECAC, primarily because it is a one-line team. Unfortunately for Harvard, this was the line:

Captain Erik Anderson--3 goals, 3 assists.

Assistant captain Mike Gellard--2 goals, 4 assists.

Senior winger Alan Fyfe--1 goal, 2 assists.

Harvard was absolutely burned by the Saints' top scoring line and got blown out of Appleton arena, 6-3, in what was probably the Crimson's worst effort of the season. St. Lawrence blitzed Jonas for 50 shots and the goalie finally wilted under the barrage in the third period, giving up four goals.

"We were flat," Mazzoleni said. "We tried juggling lines, increasing pressure in the neutral zone, it didn't work. We were getting beat off the wall. We got beat a lot down low tonight, it showed our vulnerability on the blueline."

Despite holding the clear edge in play, St. Lawrence could not solve Jonas through the first two periods. The score was tied 2-2 with freshman winger Rob Fried scoring his third of the season on Harvard's third--and final--shot of the second period at 17:19.

But just 47 seconds into the final frame, Fyfe hit a wide-open Anderson in the slot, and the Saints' captain ripped it into the top corner for a 3-2 lead. Anderson completed his hat trick at 7:52, knocking home a rebound inside the right post for a two-goal advantage.

"We didn't despair or question things [entering the third]," St. Lawrence Coach Joe Marsh said. "Anderson had a great night; those were pretty goals he scored. I don't know where we would be without him."

Harvard called timeout after the goal and began to mount a comeback. With 9:22 left in the game, the Crimson executed a beautiful power-play goal. Freshman winger Tim Petit worked the puck to Dominic Moore at the left point, and Moore shoveled a shot that was nudged by Steve Moore to Chris Bala, and the assistant captain banged his team-leading fifth goal into the empty net.

The Crimson increased its forecheck to gun for the equalizer, but late in the third period, all the shots Jonas has seen through the season finally caught up with him. With 6:46 remaining, Jonas was sent to the ice at the end of the play and was slow to rise.

Right off the next face-off, Anderson drew the puck straight back to Gellard, and he one-timed a shot to which Jonas was slow to react, and St. Lawrence had the insurance it needed. Jonas would leave the ice briefly later in the game to have a bad cut on his right ear attended to.

Jonas has played masterfully for Harvard in his first season starting after three years as the team's backup, taking a 2.11 goals-against-average (GAA) into the weekend. The Crimson has kept him exceedingly busy over its last few games. He tied his career-high with 44 saves in Friday's contest--a record he set on Tuesday against then No. 4-Boston College.

"Oliver saw a lot of pucks and they bumped him a lot," Mazzoleni said. "I think he was tired. He's played a lot early."

Harvard simply struggled in all facets of its game. The Crimson was routinely beaten in one-on-one situations, turning the puck over and not finishing its checks. Harvard also had difficulty stringing passes together, exhibiting a very poor transition game. The defense expended all its energy just clearing the puck, and even when it had time to make breakout passes, it failed to connect crisply.

While Appleton Arena had a seemingly melting ice surface, the Saints did not have the difficulty passing Harvard had. The offensive pressure was so abysmal for the Crimson that its best chances seemed to come while shorthanded.

"We had to get to their goal," Mazzoleni said. "It was pretty evident their goaltender was struggling, but we didn't test him. [The Saints] have strong defensemen, and were able to get a stick on us…but we didn't fight through things very well at all."

The Saints extended their winning streak over the Crimson to six games. Capouch scored Harvard's first goal, an extremely lucky shot from along the right boards, just above the goal line that bounced past senior goalie Jeremy Symington. The normally suspect Symington made 23 saves. He had a 3.73 GAA entering the game with a .883 save percentage.

Sophomore defenseman Aaron Kim missed the game, serving a one-game suspension for the game disqualification he received for spearing against Boston College.