M. Hockey Sits Atop ECACs With Help

With its weekend sweep of No. 9 Cornell and Colgate, Harvard vaulted into first place in the ECAC with a record of 3-2-1, one point ahead of both Clarkson and Cornell after Saturday’s contests.

The two victories came at a crucial point for the Crimson, when injuries, illness, and a nationally-ranked opponent coming to town could have caused Harvard to lose its focus.

However, the Crimson received key performances from several players to secure its first regular season weekend sweep since Jan. 5-6.

Dov-ing right in

In the absence of starting goaltender Will Crothers, freshman Dov Grumet-Morris did more than his share to help the Crimson cause.

He made 23 saves against the Big Red on Friday night, and continued his success against Colgate by stopping 20 of the Raiders’ 21 shots.

Grumet-Morris finished the weekend with some very impressive numbers: a 1.98 goals against average and a .918 save perecentage.

“I felt pretty prepared coming in,” Grumet-Morris said. “And the team played really, really well this weekend in front of me.”

Grumet-Morris’ teammates didn’t seem surprised by his stellar play between the pipes.

“We had a lot of confidence in Dov coming in,” sophomore forward Tyler Kolarik said.

Crothers was out with the flu and did not dress for either game this weekend. He was, however, in goal for each of Harvard’s first four games, posting a 3.18 goals against average and an .893 save percentage.

Mazzoleni expects Crothers to start at least one of the games in the coming week, either Tuesday’s home match-up with Boston University or Friday night’s game at The Heights against Boston College.

Naughty, Naughty

While Mazzoleni was certainly pleased with many things on the ice this past weekend, there was one thing about the series that certainly did not strike his fancy, namely Harvard players sitting in the penalty box.

The Crimson was assessed a total of 36 penalty minutes over the two games, enough to put a couple gray hairs on Mazzoleni’s head.

“We can’t take these type of penalties. We just can’t,” said Mazzoleni following Saturday night’s game which saw ten Crimson penalties.

Some quick math yields the startling statistic that a Harvard player was in the penalty box for a third of the game against Colgate.

After Saturday’s game, the Crimson’s season total sits at 53 penalties for 117 minutes—an average of 19.50 per game—second only to Clarkson in the ECAC.

Thankfully for the Crimson, though, the Harvard penalty kill turned in a strong weekend performance, allowing only two goals in 12 total chances. For the year, the Crimson has killed 22 of 30 penalties. Harvard and Cornell are also the only ECAC teams to have recorded a shorthanded goal in conference play through Saturday. Dennis Packard notched a man-down tally against Colgate at 9:51 of the first period.

Offensive Firepower

Several Crimson skaters are making waves across the ECAC with their efficiency in the offensive end.

Junior Brett Nowak’s four goals and six assists put him on top of both the ECAC and Harvard point-scoring and assist lists through Saturday. Nowak has recorded a point in each of Harvard’s first six games this season.

Sophomore forward Tim Pettit has been lethal on the power play so far this season, potting four of Harvard’s seven goals with the man advantage. As of Nov. 17, Pettit is also the league leader in that category.

The Class of 2005 is also making its mark in the Harvard boxscores this season. Defenseman Noah Welch—whose blast with 40 seconds remaining in Friday night’s game forced overtime—leads both ECAC defensemen and freshmen in scoring with three goals and three assists thus far. Classmate Tom Cavanagh is the only other rookie with six points so far, as he has tallied one goal and five assists.

Junior center Dominic Moore returned to the lineup on Saturday night after serving a one game suspension for a major disqualification penalty against Dartmouth on Nov. 10. Back in the starting lineup against Colgate, Moore (2-4—6) recorded an assist on Kenny Smith’s first period goal.

Streaks and Milestones

Harvard’s win on Friday snapped the Crimson’s six-game winless streak against Cornell, as well as Big Red Coach Mike Schafer’s previously undefeated record at Bright.

The last Harvard win against Cornell prior to Friday night was a 2-1 victory at Lynah Rink on Nov. 13, 1999. Ironically enough, Harvard has not lost to Colgate since that very same New York road trip, which included a 5-4 loss on Nov. 12, 1999.

Meanwhile, Mazzoleni recorded his 250th career win on Saturday. Following the game, he reminisced about his first coaching win, a 9-1 drubbing of Wisconsin Superior from his days at D-III Wisconsin Stevens-Point.

The Green Line

Thanksgiving week features a pair of matchups with cross-town rivals. Harvard plays host to Boston University on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. before heading to Chestnut Hill for a match-up with defending national champion Boston College on Friday night.

The archrivals actually played one another this past weekend, with BC (6-4-1, 3-2-0 Hockey East) upsetting the then-No. 4 Terriers (6-1-1, 3-1-1 Hockey East) by a 3-1 score at The Heights on Saturday night.