M. Hockey Thaws North Country With Sweep

POTSDAM, N.Y.—For eight seasons, the frigid North Country has been a frozen hell for the Harvard men’s hockey team.

Not anymore.

Harvard swept the North Country road trip for the first time since Jan. 1993, routing St. Lawrence and holding off Clarkson last weekend. The two wins move the Crimson (4-1, 4-1 ECAC) into a tie for first in the league with Brown.

“They’re the best team in the league—maybe overall—but certainly the best team in the league with the puck,” said St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh.

Harvard’s sweep sets up a huge matchup Friday night on the road against ECAC favorite Cornell. The fish-toting Lynah faifthful will be out for revenge after Harvard beat the No. 6 Big Red two out of three teams last season, including last year’s 4-3 double-overtime thriller in the ECAC championship game.

Harvard 2, Clarkson 1

Any team can win when its offense is clicking. Saturday night, Harvard showed that it can win ugly as well.

The Crimson overcame a stingy Golden Knight defense to edge Clarkson, combining two opportunistic scores with outstanding goaltending by sophomore Dov Grumet-Morris.

“This league is controlled by the goaltenders, and theirs played really well,” said Clarkson interim coach Fred Parker.

Harvard handed Clarkson its first defeat under Parker, a former assistant for the Golden Knights who had been 2-0-1 since taking the reigns from former coach Mark Morris. Morris was fired Friday after hitting one of his own players in practice on Nov. 2. [See story, Page B-3.]

Clarkson had most of the game’s best scoring chances but the Golden Knights could not solve Grumet-Morris, who made several clutch saves to preserve the victory.

Playing his best games of the year, Grumet-Morris allowed just two goals, finishing the weekend with 64 saves and a spectacular .970 save percentage.

“Dov made some big saves for us,” Mazzoleni said. “At times they got the upper hand, and he was able to make the big saves and calm our team down.”

After scoring 15 goals in its previous three games, the Harvard offense met its match in Clarkson’s well-organized defense. The Golden Knights kept a third skater in a defensive position, forcing Harvard out of its up-tempo game.

“They’re as good a defensive corps as we’ve played,” Mazzoleni said. “They don’t allow you a lot of room in the neutral zone, so it’s more of a dump-and-chase game against that team. If you try and beat them, all you’re going to do is play into their game. They’ll counterattack and throw it down your throat.”

Harvard had its most success with a man in the penalty box. The Crimson scored on a shorthanded goal in the first period by junior forward Tim Pettit—his fifth point of the weekend—and netted the game winner during four-on-four play with a goal by junior Dennis Packard.

The Golden Knights gave the Crimson its most physical game of the year. The contest was marred by 19 penalties, including 10 in the second period.

But neither side could take advantage of its numerous opportunities with the extra man, as the teams combined to go 0-for-13 on the power play.

Things threatened to get ugly with four minutes left in the second, when a collision between Crimson junior defenseman Dave McCulloch and Golden Knight goaltender Dustin Traylan set off a mass scuffle in front of the Clarkson goal. The incident led to a Clarkson power play, as Traylan was not penalized for his punch to McCulloch’s throat.

Harvard’s ability to kill that penalty proved critical, as Clarkson had owned the game’s momentum up until that point. Minutes earlier, the Golden Knights had tied the game at one, and their outstanding penalty kill (92 percent) had just killed off a 5-on-3 Harvard power play that lasted nearly two minutes.

While Clarkson continued to dictate the tempo in the second period, it was Harvard that scored the tiebreaking, and ultimately game-winning, goal.

The Crimson connected with just 12 seconds left in the period, when junior forward scooted the puck past Traylan into the net. Packard had little power behind his shot, but his stick-fake before shooting pulled Traylan out of position.

Harvard 6, St. Lawrence 1

So much for Harvard’s slow starts.

After scoring just one first-period goal in its first three games this year, the Crimson exploded for three in the opening frame Friday, cruising to a 6-1 rout of St. Lawrence.

“This was our best game of the year,” Mazzoleni said. “Our guys finished well, and we had balanced scoring from all four lines.”

Pettit led the Crimson scoring barrage, tallying two goals and two assists. It was a breakthrough performance for Pettit, who led the team in goals last season but had yet to score this year.

Pettit had a hand in Harvard’s first three goals, opening the scoring on a shorthanded tap-in at 5:11 of the first period, and laster assisting on a Kolarik tally.

“That first goal was something I really needed,” Pettit said. “At the beginning of the year I was shaky and wasn’t really sure if my shot would come back.”

Later, Pettit showed why he has the sweetest shot on the team. After hesitating with the puck between the faceoff circles just long enough for the Saint defender to skate himself out of the play, Pettit ripped a wicked slapshot high into the net, giving Harvard a 3-0 lead.

“I really enjoy taking slapshots,” Pettit said.

—Staff writer Elijah M. Alper can be reached at alper@fas.harvard.edu.

M. HOCKEY 2, CLARKSON 1

At Cheel Arena, Potsdam, N.Y.

Harvard (4-1-0) 1 1 0 — 2

Clarkson (2-4-1) 0 1 0 — 1

First Period: H, Pettit (unassisted) 9:31 SHG. Second Period: C, Jones (Carosa, Lush) 11:13. H, Packard (Moore, Smith) 19:48. Shots: H 12-6-11 29, C 11-7-9 27. Power Play: H 0-7, C 0-6. Penalties: H 9-18, C 10-20. Goalies: H, Grumet-Morris (27-26) C, Traylen (29-27). A: 3,345.

M. HOCKEY 6, ST. LAWRENCE 1

At Appleton Rink, Canton, N.Y.

Harvard (3-1-0) 3 1 2 — 6

Clarkson (2-4-1) 0 1 0 — 1

First Period: H, Pettit (Fried, Smith) 5:11 SHG. H, Kolarik (Pettit, Welch) 9:10 PPG. H, Pettit (Cavanagh, Walsh) 13:09 PPG. Second Period: S, Petac (FitzRandolph, Parker) 1:59 PPG. H, Welch (Pettit, Kolarik) 5:31. Third Period: H, Nowak (Kolarik) 17:37. H, Moore (Walsh, Barlow) 17:57. Shots: H 12-10-10 32, S 12-17-10 39.

Power Play: H 2-3, S 1-6. Penalties: H 4-8, S 7-14. Goalies: H, Grumet-Morris (39-38) S, Ackley (33-27). A: 2,350.