Cavanagh Plays the Hero in Semis

LAKE PLACID, N.Y.—In the overtime session in Friday night’s ECAC semifinal, Clarkson dominated for 15 minutes. But Harvard dominated the ten seconds that mattered.

Outshot and outplayed for virtually the entire extra frame, the third-seeded Harvard men’s hockey team nonetheless gutted out an exhilarating 3-2 victory over the No. 2 Golden Knights on freshman Tom Cavanagh’s goal at the 15:19 mark in overtime.

Cavanagh’s game-winner put Harvard in the ECAC championship game for the first time since 1996, and it marked only the third time in the last 17 games that the Crimson has defeated Clarkson.

“It was a big-time goal,” Mazzoleni said of Cavanagh’s tally. “It’s one that our program is very proud of.”

For so much of the overtime, it looked like Harvard would have trouble just getting a shot off. During one stretch, Clarkson held the puck close to the Harvard net for nearly six consecutive minutes before Harvard finally managed to clear the puck from its own end.

The Crimson finally broke through when Clarkson defenseman Chris Bahen’s clearing attempt was intercepted in the Golden Knights’ zone. Cavanagh collected the loose puck at the blue line and used a pick from Bernakevitch to gain some open ice. The rookie forward then skated in—eluding a Golden Knight skater hanging off his hip—and fired a backhand shot from six feet in front that eluded Clarkson goaltender Mike Walsh low to the stick side.

“I looked up at all the space [in front of me] and said ‘wow’,” Cavanagh said. “I just jumped to the spot in front of the net, got as loose as I could and just shot it.”

For Clarkson, it was a bitterly disappointing end to a game that the Knights seemed destined to win.

“Sometimes the better team doesn’t win,” Clarkson coach Mark Morris said. “That was the situation tonight.”

Clarkson suffered additional heartache the next night, blowing a 3-0 third-period lead in losing 4-3 to RPI in the consolation game.

On Friday, the Golden Knights outshot Harvard 14-5 in the extra frame, and had numerous near-miss opportunities. They were always stymied by either an unlucky bounce or a brilliant save by Grumet-Morris, who stopped a career-high 39 shots.

“They had the decided advantage in overtime, but Dov was very good,” Mazzoleni said. “One of the big parts of any victory is great goaltending, and we got that Friday night.”

Clarkson’s control of the overtime period was a departure from how the rest of the game went. Early on, it was Harvard who dictated the flow of the game, taking advantage of a fierce forecheck to bottle up the Golden Knights in their own zone.

With the score tied 1-1 in the third, Harvard scored what appeared to be the game’s crucial goal when a Kolarik shot drew Walsh out of position, enabling Nowak to collect the rebound and ease the puck into an open net. With Harvard decidedly outplaying Clarkson up to that point in the game, the goal looked decisive.

But Clarkson would not go down easily. With its season in jeopardy, the desperate Golden Knights finally began to generate heavy pressure in the Harvard zone.

Clarkson’s efforts finally paid off with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. While on a power play, Clarkson forward Matt Poapst eluded Harvard defenseman Noah Welch with a stickhandling move and drove the puck towards the net on a 2-on-1 opportunity.

Poapst drew the Grumet-Morris over, then slipped a perfect centering pass to linemate Kevin O’Flaherty, who knocked the puck in between Grumet-Morris’ legs to send the game into overtime.

Only the clutch goaltending of Grumet-Morris kept the clearly fatigued Crimson alive in the extra period, as the Golden Knights spent most of overtime in the Crimson zone. Grumet-Morris played one of his worst games of the season at Clarkson in February—he was pulled after allowing three goals on nine shots in the first period—but he came through Friday with his third straight quality performance.

“Dov has given us the stability in goal in the last few weeks that we had in the beginning of the year when we were playing at a real high level,” Mazzoleni said.

No hint of the late-game excitement could be found in the opening period. Both teams looked jittery for the first ten minutes of the game. Stoppages of play far outnumbered shots on goal as neither team could muster any sustained offensive pressure.

Harvard controlled play after opening the scoring on a Dom Moore goal with 4:25 left in the period, but it couldn’t convert on its chances to open up a two-goal lead. Clarkson eventually adjusted to Harvard’s aggressive offensive checking, and it began counterattacking to create transition opportunities.

The Golden Knights finally broke through at 7:25 of the second when Trevor Edwards banged his own rebound past Grumet-Morris to tie the score.

That goal woke up both teams and the rest of the period featured long stretches of frantic back-and-forth hockey, erasing the memory of a sluggish first frame. Neither team was able to capitalize on its chances, however, setting the stage for the dramatic final two periods.

HARVARD 3, CLARKSON 2 (OT)

at The 1980 Olympic Arena, Lake Placid, N.Y.

Harvard (14-14-4) 1 0 1 1 3

Cornell (17-14-6) 0 1 1 0 2

First period: H, Moore (Fried) 15:36. Second Period: C Edwards, 7:25. Third Period: H, Nowak (Kolarik, McCulloch) 2:49. C, O’Flaherty (Poapst) 14:31. OT: H Cavanagh 7 (Bernakevitch) 15:19. Shots on goal: H 10-15-14-4 44. C 5-11-11-14 41. Penalties: H 5-10, C 1-2. Power Play: H 0-1. C 1-5. Goalies: H, Grumet-Morris, (39-2). C, Walsh (41-3).