M. Hockey Sweeps Tigers, Elis

A week ago, the Harvard men's hockey tam played the best it has all year, but still got swept by North Country rivals No. 9 St. Lawrence and Clarkson at Bright. This weekend a reinvigorated Crimson focused its frustration and intensity on two new targets--Ivy rivals Princeton and Yale, turning in new best performances of the year.

And this time it paid off.

In its first road sweep since downing both Dartmouth and Vermont in Jan. 1999, the Crimson (10-14-2, 8-9-2 ECAC) posted two consecutive victories over the Tigers (10-13-3, 8-8-3, ECAC) and the Elis (9-12-5, 6-9-4 ECAC) last weekend.

Not only did the sweep grant Harvard sole occupancy of seventh place in league standings, but it also shattered a winless streak that both Princeton and Yale held over the Crimson at their respective home rinks. Harvard's 4-2 triumph over Princeton ended a three-season winning drought at Hobey Baker Rink, and its 5-2 victory over Yale handed the Elis their first loss to the Crimson at Ingalls Rink since the 1993-94 season.

Harvard 5, Yale 2

Though it's unlikely that the Crimson will capture a national championship title this year, Mazzoleni can say with pride that his squad achieved one milestone that the 1988-89 NCAA Championship team did not--beating Yale at Ingalls Rink.

The Crimson dropped a 3-1 decision to the Bulldogs that year, and since then had only defeated Yale once, dominating the Elis 12-1 during the 1993-94 season.

With the chance of home ice increasing among the Crimson's realm of playoff possibilities, Harvard put the curse of Ingalls Rink to rest and used its momentum from its victory over Princeton to nab a decisive and much-needed 5-2 win.

"I don't think there was any history on our minds," junior winger Chris Bala said. "We came out hard and things are finally starting to go our way."

Things certainly went Bala's way this weekend.

Yale winger Jay Quenville took a point-blank range outside of the crease that rebounded into a two-on-one break for the Crimson. Freshman center Dominic Moore led the rush down the right wing with Bala charging down the middle.

Moore slid a pass to Bala who cut in on Hanger, beautifully faking to his backhand and tucking the eventual game-winner inside the right post to put the Crimson up 3-1.

This was a far cry from last week when it was Bala's point-blank shot that ricocheted into a Golden Knight two-on-one that produced the deciding goal.

Harvard made it clear as early as 3:39 into the first period that it was going to seize full control of Saturday's contest, as Dominic Moore posted his 12th career goal to put the Crimson up 1-0.

Just four seconds after Yale winger John Gauger's tripping infraction expired, junior winger Steve Moore sent a cross-ice pass to linemate Scott

Turco at the right circle. Turco fanned on his attempt, but Dominic Moore scooped up the puck and fired a wrist shot under Hanger's glove.

Sophomore defenseman Peter Capouch cashed in Harvard's second goal less than five minutes later, netting a slapshot from the top of the right

circle off a pass from Captain Trevor Allman, extending the Crimson's lead to two.

Yale center Spencer Rodgers cut Harvard's lead in half by redirecting center Ben Stafford's shot from outside the right circle past senior goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo at 14:00--with just one second left on its power play.

The Elis made a slight charge at the start of the second period, but the play evened out for most of the second half until freshman winger Brett Nowak stripped the puck back down low from Bulldog defenseman John Gauger, who had just stole the puck from him.

Nowak took the puck to the goal, but Hanger stopped him, leaving a rebound that senior winger Matt Macleod put home.

There was considerable argument from the Eli bench after the goal, arguing either that Macleod was in the crease or referee Dan Murphy should've blown the play dead because Nowak had crashed into Hanger.

Murphy, however, never blew his whistle and allowed the goal to stand, bringing the score to 4-1.

Desperate to bring a little glory to Yale Coach Tim Taylor '63 in the final home game of the regular season, the Elis tried one last time to assert themselves offensively.

Still riding the power play from a tripping call on Scorsune with less than a minute to play in the second period, Yale tried to narrow the Crimson's substantial lead only 48 seconds in to the final stanza. Winger Jeff Brow slid a pass to linemate Nick Deschenes in the slot, but Prestifilippo stoned the shot.

The momentum seemed to turn briefly when Yale captain Cory Shea lit the lamp at 2:55 on a penalty kill, bringing Yale within two. Shea bagged the Bulldog's first shorthanded goal since he victimized Dartmouth last February.

The Crimson regained its three-goal lead with its third power play goal in 30 chances, thanks to a slapshot from Steve Moore from the slot, finalizing the score at 5-3.

With less than six minutes left in the game, it was clear to both the Yale players and fans that Harvard was in the driver's seat, gunning to atone for the controversial loss that it suffered in The Game last November.

Fittingly, the Yale football team displayed its Ivy League championship trophy on the ice during the first intermission.

A scuffle between sophomore defenseman Leif Ericson and Paul Lawson followed. The fans got in on the action by throwing Hangers in honor of their graduating goalie on the ice, causing Yale to be assessed with two delay of game penalties, effectively ending the game for the Elis.

"This weekend will definitely be the difference between getting home ice and not," junior defenseman Tim Stay said. "RPI and Union are having a little trouble, so we're hitting our peak at just the right time."

Harvard 4, Princeton 2

In order for Harvard to make a run at home ice, it not only had to claim the seniors first win at the Whale, but also at Princeton's Hobey Baker Rink.

In a weekend of first for the Crimson, it did just that.

"It was our last shot in four years to come down here," Scorsune said. "Fortunately we ended up with a win."

The first period began without much flow or consistency, with both teams using a slow, passive clutch-and-grab style. The Crimson posted the first quality shot on a three-on-one rush at 7:14.

Allman slid a pass across to Stay, but Princeton goaltender Dave Stathos made the save.

And barely a minute later, Tigers' captain Darren Yopyk tallied the first and only goal of the night for the Tigers, putting Princeton up 1-0 at 8:28 with a wrist shot that went top shelf on Prestifilippo.

Harvard, however, generated more offense as the period and Steve Moore equalized the score with only eight seconds remaining in the first period.

Nowak kept the play alive along the boards and brought the puck up to the right circle and passed it to Moore in front of the net, who one-timed it past Stathos to make it 1-1.

Harvard took away Princeton's transition game in the second period, as the Crimson concentrated on moving the puck through the shortened neutral zone more quickly than usual. This negated the Tigers' home-ice advantage of Hobey Baker, which is smaller than a regulation college rink.

Turco closed the book on the Tigers slightly more than half-way through the second period, notching his eighth goal of the season in his 100th career game with the Crimson. Setting up in the right circle, Steve Moore slid a pass across to Turco who was lurking by the net. Turco's one-timer at the left crease at 13:03 put Harvard ahead by one.

The Crimson posted 11 shots on Stathos in the second period alone, allowing Princeton to muster only one quality shot on net the entire period.

Less than two minutes in to the final period, Princeton winger Chris Corrinet took an upward pass and beat Capouch one-on-one to the net, but Prestifilippo made the quick save.

Center Ethan Doyle followed up Corrinet's shot on the rebound. Prestifilippo sprawled to make the second save in the sequence, which doubled the Tiger's total shots on goal in the second period.

It was all over for Princeton when Yopyk went down at 2:07 of the third period, causing an unknown injury to his knee that sidelined him for the rest of the game.

Taking advantage of the Tigers' weakness, Steve Moore and Bala darted in two-on-one on Stathos, reminiscent of their freshmen year performance, and tallied the third Crimson goal of the night at 15:41.

Bala, on a pass from Moore, took a shot but Stathos couldn't hold the rebound. The puck deflected off a defenseman and dribbled across the goal line, making it 3-1.

"Chris stepped up third period last game and asserted more offense," Mazzoleni said. "We need Chris Bala and Steve Moore to be on their game. They're two of the biggest offensive weapons we have now."

Dominic Moore capped the night off with a wrister from the slot off a Turco's shot at 16:49.

Throughout the season, when the opponent scored first, the Crimson has had difficulty surmounting the deficit. But despite the Tigers' best efforts to make that pattern materialize on Friday, Harvard confidently took the lead and maintained control.

This killer instinct bodes well for the final weekend at home against Union and RPI.

"We've played very hard three nights in a row," Mazzoleni said. "Tonight was a continuation of last week."