Prestifilippo Shines in Beanpot Consolation Win

BOSTON--The Harvard men's hockey team didn't deserve to win, but with spectacular goaltending the team managed not to lose and the Crimson walked away with just its second Beanpot victory since 1994.

On the strength of two early goals, Harvard (8-12-2, 6-7-2 ECAC) hung on for a narrow 3-1 victory over Northeastern (12-11-5, 8-5-5 Hockey East) in the Beanpot Consolation game at the Fleet Center.

"We're fortunate to come out with a victory tonight," said Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni. "It was nice to come out of the first with a 2-0 lead, neither team had much jump."

With Harvard leading 2-1 late in the third, the Huskies pulled their goalie in favor of an extra attacker and came dangerously close to tying the game on a tipped shot with 25 seconds remaining in regulation.

In the final seconds, however, the goaltending of Harvard senior J.R. Prestifilippo sealed the win for the Crimson before senior winger Matt Macleod put the game on ice with an empty-net goal.

Despite the score and the win, the Huskies outplayed the Crimson and it was very much Prestifilippo's night to shine as the senior turned away 38-of-39 shots for his first Beanpot victory.

Except for a brief burst of life late in the third and a decent effort in the first half of the opening period, the Crimson forwards were hardly noticeable as the Huskies outshot Harvard 39-16.

"The difference in this game is sitting to my left," Mazzoleni said, motioning to Prestifilippo. "He's the reason we won the game."

Prestifilippo took his game to another level in the second period, turning away 18-of-19 shots as the Crimson attack stalled and quickly spun into a free fall.

Outshot 19-2 in the second period, the Harvard forwards could not put together a solid rush as the team bogged down in the neutral zone before reaching the N.U. blueline.

The Crimson did not register a shot on goal between the midway-point of the second period and the 14-minute mark of the third.

Despite the anemic offensive performance, Harvard was able to hold on to an early two-goal lead for the Beanpot victory.

With the Crimson already up 1-0 in the first period, the Huskies looked as though they might find the equalizer before junior center Steve Moore pocketed what turned out to be the game-winner at 13:34 of the first.

Moore accepted a quick pass from senior winger Scott Turco, who was fighting for the puck in the corner. Moore walked in all alone, faked as if to backhand it in the short-side, then switched to his forehand and slid the puck in the far side past N.U. goaltender Mike Gilhooly, who had left the far side of the net open.

Harvard opened the scoring early in the first on a goal from captain Trevor Allman, assisted by senior wingers Brett Chodorow and Matt Macleod.

Allman found the loose puck sitting in a crowd of black and white shirts and fired it home before the net came of its moorings after the N.U. goaltender could not handle a wrist shot from Chodorow.

Despite Harvard's two goals, the Huskies outplayed the Crimson in the first 20 minutes and clearly had the momentum heading into the first intermission.

The Huskies outshot the Crimson 14-8 in the opening period and nearly capitalized on a power play opportunity late in the period except for the acrobatics of Prestifilippo.

Although outplaying the Crimson by a decided margin throughout, the Huskies could not finish, despite generating countless opportunities.

"We've been pretty consistent the way we've played, just not the way we've scored," said Northeastern Coach Bruce Crowder.

The Huskies scored their lone goal of the game on a two-man advantage at 18:20 of the second period.

With the level of frustration on both teams rising, a late hack by N.U. sophomore winger Willie Levesque started a goal-crease scuffle that left Harvard with four men in the box and the Huskies with a five-on-three advantage.

This time the Huskies would not be denied. Sophomore defenseman Jim Fahey redirected a slow shot from junior winger Graig Mischler between a shell-shocked Prestifilippo's legs.

Although Prestifilippo established himself as one of the league's premier goaltenders early in his career, winning the ECAC Rookie of the Year title in 1997, it took the senior four years to win his first Beanpot game.

"Back in '96, I didn't think that my first Beanpot win would come in the consolation game my senior year, but those are the cards," Prestifilippo said. "It hasn't been the best Beanpot ride, but it's nice to end with a win."