Pelle Propels M. Hockey To Comeback Victory

He was tied as the shortest skater on the ice when the Harvard men’s hockey team took on Yale, but his game was the biggest. And he was the youngest to see action on Friday night, but his game proved more than mature. And when the final buzzer sounded to the tune of a 3-1 Crimson victory, freshman Jon Pelle had made all the difference.

All three Harvard (2-2-1, 2-2-1 ECACHL) goals were unanswered. All came with under six minutes remaining. And all three included Pelle.

“He was very good out there, and he’s got a lot of poise,” said Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 of the rookie. “And he’s one of those types of players that is able to make other people around him better.”

Pelle earned an assist on senior Andrew Lederman’s slapshot that knotted the score at one apiece. That was only Lederman’s second career goal.

It was Pelle’s tally, though, that gave Harvard its first lead in the last nine regulation periods of play.

Assistant captain Tom Cavanagh, skating just behind the goal, directed a laser of a pass to Pelle as the freshman hovered to the right of Yale goaltender Josh Gartner.

“Cavvy got the puck behind the net,” Pelle said. “The goalie was kind of looking over his left shoulder, so I came up on his right side.”

The freshman heaved the puck into the crease, where it “hit off the post, maybe hit off his pad,” according to Pelle, and dribbled over the line with less than three minutes left to play.

It proved enough for a Crimson victory, though Pelle would notch a second assist on senior Brendan Bernakevitch’s power-play goal that sealed the 3-1 victory with 33 seconds remaining.

Three Harvard scores, three points for Pelle—all in the last six minutes of the game.

Not that he didn’t try earlier, though.

The West Islip, N.Y., native took nine shots against the Bulldogs, four more than his closest teammates, and he sparked the Crimson offense to 47 shots on the night—this after Harvard managed just 39 in last weekend’s miserable series against Cornell and Colgate.

“I was just trying to put a lot of pucks to the net tonight,” Pelle explained. “If you throw enough pucks at the net, eventually one’s going to go in.”

Pelle’s approach was contagious, and he combined with Cavanagh and Bernakevitch for seven of the night’s nine Crimson points.

“Certainly, with Cavanagh and Bernakevitch out there on that first power play,” Donato said, “[Pelle]’s a guy that is able to utilize their strengths to complement his ability.”

And not to be outshone by his offensive fireworks is the fact that the rookie played a sharp, shrewd game.

“He’s protecting the puck out there on the power play like...he’s a senior,” Lederman said. “It’s really impressive.”

As is having your name written next to every score in a three-goal, last-minute comeback.

—Staff writer Rebecca A. Seesel can be reached at seesel@fas.harvard.edu.