A Bright Finish, Finally

Now Harvard’s seniors aren’t the only skaters on the Crimson roster who know the feeling that comes with beating Cornell.

Sophomore Kevin Du broke a scoreless tie five minutes into the third period, and netminder Dov Grumet-Morris recorded 27 saves to propel No. 12 Harvard to a 1-0 win over the No. 9 Big Red before a sellout crowd at Bright Hockey Center on Saturday night. The victory ends the Crimson’s six-game losing streak against Cornell (9-4-2, 5-2-1 ECAC), a skid that dated back to 2002.

“This was everything that I think people expected,” Grumet-Morris said. “Everyone had been talking about it, asking questions, trying to get tickets, trying to sneak into the rink. And so I think they got their money’s worth, or the money that they didn’t pay.”

Despite holding a distinct edge through two periods, Harvard (10-5-2, 7-4-1) struggled to find an answer to Big Red goaltender David McKee, who time and again rebuffed the Crimson’s efforts from just beyond the crease and, on one occasion, from well inside it.

With 10:45 gone by in the first period, assistant captain Ryan Lannon threaded a slapshot through the scrum between the circles and between McKee’s pads. Apparently unaware the effort had slipped behind him, McKee stood pat as the puck glided precariously towards the goal line.

But in an unusual role reversal, one of Cornell’s blueliners swooped in and saved McKee at the last moment, preserving the scoreless tie.

Nine minutes later, an unsuccessful Big Red attempt to clear the defensive zone kicked off a stick and over to Welch, who gloved the puck and raced in alone on McKee. After one deke, Welch attempted to tuck his shot inside the right post, only to rebuffed.

But Harvard—mired in a 1-for-17 slump on its power play and just one night removed from an uncharacteristically poor offensive performance in which its forwards generated little traffic in front—continued to swarm McKee’s net, and, 4:54 into the third period, finally broke through.

“The first two periods were a little bit frustrating,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “[But] we stayed with the program and really continued to try to do the things that we know make us successful. And in the third period it finally paid off.”

Sophomore Steve Mandes forced a turnover in the corner, then found linemate Ryan Maki perched in the slot. McKee turned aside his backhand effort, but the puck squirted free to pivot Kevin Du just inside the right circle.

With McKee shuffling into position, Du corralled the puck and lifted the game-winner top shelf for his third goal of the season.

“I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I guess,” said Du, who had been benched for the first time in his career one night earlier for his inconsistent play.

One minute later, senior Brendan Bernakevitch appeared poised to extend Harvard’s lead, deftly slipping past a pair of Cornell blueliners, then rushing in unchecked against McKee. But the backstop had recovered from the goal he had surrendered moments earlier and recorded yet another point-blank pad save.

Desperately seeking to erase its one-goal deficit, Cornell’s offense pinned play in the Harvard end for much of the remainder of the period, aided by a pair of Crimson penalties.

With 10 seconds remaining on the first of those minors, the Big Red appeared to have Grumet-Morris beaten, but the Evanston, Ill., native slid across the crease to kick the puck just wide to preserve the lead.

But he would have to one-up that save with the Crimson again down a man just over five minutes later, shifting across the goalmouth to stonewall Cornell’s power play unit yet again.

“Dov has been great all year,” Donato said, “and we’ve come to expect great performances by [him], so I was happy to see him get the shutout.”

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.