M. Hockey Topples Brown

The Harvard men’s hockey team had obviously spent its 20 day hiatus stewing over its emberassing loss to a bottom-feeding Princeton squad.

And Brown found themselves the victims of that aggression on Friday night, as the Crimson avenged an early season loss, 3-1, in a physically dominated game which saw a fight after third break out after Harvard’s final goal.

Though the Bears (9-9-2, 7-6-1 ECAC) tied the game at one apiece on a garbage goal from junior winger Brent Robinson, the stalemate was short-lived.

Forty-two seconds later, No. 13 Harvard (13-6-1, 12-3-0) put itself back on top on a goal from junior forward Tim Pettit. Sophomores Brendan Bernakevitch and Ryan Lannon assisted the Crimson leading point tallier (30 points) on the score.

“It was a classic Timmy Pettit goal,” said Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni. “He just blew it through him [junior goalie Yann Danis]. That’s not flukey the way he rips the puck. He’s got a hammer.”

A final score came late on the empty net iced the game for the Crimson. After failing to score on his initial shot, Pettit assisted to junior winger Tyler Kolarik who collected the puck in between two Brown defenders, and knocked the puck in to the net with 37 seconds remaining in regulation.

Though the potent offenses was crucial in securing a Crimson victory, especially against the ever dominant Danis, who is fourth in the nation for shutouts, had 30 saves in the first meeting and 49 in the second, it was the defense that really excelled.

Midway through the second period junior defenders Dave McCulloch and Kenny Smith received penaltie for interference and slashing respectively, putting the Crimson in a 5 v 3 situation for the next two minutes against a power play unit that boasts a .24 scoring percentage.

But a great effort from the Harvard defense, led by sophomore defender Noah Welch who was on the ice the entire shift, denied the Bears any great scoring chances.

“He’s the centerpiece of our defensive core,” said sophomore Dov Grumet-Morris said. “What a lot of people don’t realize is that though he’s out there for a minute 45 seconds for the PK, he’s also on the ice for every power play and about two-thirds of the 5 v. 5.”

Grumet-Morris also proved crucial in Brown’s attempts, making eight saves during the 5 v 3 period and 32 on the entire contest to improve his saving percentage to fifth in the nation (.926).

“We got some good shots, we just didn’t get enough quality shots ,” said Brown coach Roger Grillo. “We didn’t create enough traffic in front of the goalie.”

Harvard’s power play unit also looked impressive on the evening.

After shutting down the Bear’s first two chances, the second of which saw a goal from forward and captain Dominic Moor called back, the Crimson got its first shot after Brown’s senior forward Chris Legg was called for hooking.

The team capitalized when a pass from Moore an open Welch standing at at the point. Welch then sent the puck flying past the glove side of a screened Danis, putting the Crimson up 1-0.

The Crimson will return to action in the FleetCenter tonight against No. 14 Boston University (15-7-2), who beat Merrimack 5-0 this weekend, in the 51st annual Beanpot.

Should Harvard defeat the Terriers, it will play the winner of the contest between No. 6 Boston College (17-6-3) and Northeastern (11-14-2) next Monday night for the championship. BU won last year and seven of the last eight.

—Staff writer Evan R. Johnson can be reached at erjohns@fas.harvard.edu