Athlete of the Week: Dov Grumet-Morris '05

Hockey people say that all you need to make some noise in the playoffs is a hot goalie. Thanks to freshman netminder Dov Grumet-Morris, the nation is hearing the Crimson loud and clear.

Over its improbable run through the ECAC tournament, Harvard has gotten consistently stellar netminding from Grumet-Morris, The Crimson’s Athlete of the Week.

Sometimes brilliant, always solid, Grumet-Morris has been nothing if not dependable in backstopping the rejuvinated Crimson’s success over the past two weeks.

“Dov’s been a huge part of the team’s turnaround,” sophomore winger Rob Fried said.

Grumet-Morris has posted a 1.75 goals against average through the ECAC tournament and provided the Crimson with solid goaltending in the pressure-packed overtimes against Brown, Clarkson and Cornell.

The game-winning heroics of freshman Tom Cavanagh and sophomore Tyler Kolarik would never have happened had Grumet-Morris not singlehandedly kept Clarkson at bay in the extra frame of Harvard’s 3-2 overtime victory. Grumet-Morris stopped 14 shots in an overtime period dominated by the Golden Knights. He made a career-high 39 saves overall, holding up long enough to allow Cavanagh the chance to advance Harvard to the title game against Cornell.

In the ultimate pressure situation—double-overtime in the ECAC championship game—Grumet-Morris stodd toe-to-toe with ECAC Goalie of the Year Matt Underhill of Cornell, stopping several quality Big Red scoring chances in overtime sessions.

“Dov had a great weekend for us,” captain Peter Capouch said. “No question he made some key saves for us in the playoffs.”

Grumet-Morris’s success in the playoffs is not totally surprising, given his excellent performances on more than one occasion earlier in the year. Only recently, however, has he been able to string multiple solid performances in a row.

Junior forward Dominic Moore attributed some of Dov’s earlier struggles as a natural part in the evolution of freshman goaltender.

“It took him a while to work up the confidence he needed,” Moore said.

Now though, Grumet-Morris has confidence. And consistency. Two keys ingredients in the recipe for a successful playoff hockey team.

“One of the keys to having a good playoff run is having a goaltender that comes up big

in big games,” Moore said.

In Grumet-Morris, the Harvard has just that.