Men's Hockey Advances Past ECAC First Round

Yale shattered the protective glass and even a goalie mask, but in the end, it was the Bulldogs’ hearts that were broken.

The Harvard men’s hockey team defeated Yale (11-17-3), 2-1, Saturday night in a physical Game 2 at the Bright Hockey Center to win its best-of-three ECAC first-round series with a game to spare.

Though the Crimson (14-15-2) was robbed on several quality scoring opportunities by Bulldogs backup netminder Matt Modelski, the Harvard defense and senior goaltender Justin Tobe shut down the Yale offense, allowing just one goal for the third time in four games.

“We played pretty well, especially in the third period,” said Crimson head coach Ted Donato ’91. “We had chances, especially in the first 10 minutes of the third period, to get that two-goal lead, and their goalie made some great saves.”

Sophomore Steve Rolecek scored the game-winning goal at 17:15 of the middle frame, charging down the right side of the ice and launching a wrist shot from a shallow angle that slipped between Modelski’s pads.

With Harvard holding the Bulldogs to just five shots in the third period, Rolecek’s goal held up for the win.

“It’s a little bit of everything—we’re blocking a lot of shots, we’re spending less time in our zone, our penalty kill has been much better, and our goaltending has been very good,” Donato said. “Those all add up to a better brand of defensive hockey for us.”

Yale drew first blood when defenseman Brad Mills netted a power-play score at 12:34 of the opening frame.

But the Bulldogs’ one-goal lead did not even last until the first intermission. After sophomore blueliner Brian McCafferty took a shot from the red line on the left side of the Yale net, classmate Jimmy Fraser stuffed the rebound under and past Modelski to equalize for the Crimson at 18:43.

“Neither one of our goals were highlight goals or pretty goals,” Donato said. “But at this time of year, any goals are very important.”

Fighting to extend their season, the Bulldogs began delivering hard checks from the moment the puck dropped. Harvard responded in kind, as the two teams combined for 17 two-minute minors.

Some of the biggest hits of the night, however, did not result in penalties. Late in the second period, Yale blueliner Tom Dignard checked freshman forward Doug Rogers into the edge of the scorer’s area, causing the glass separating the station from the Crimson bench to shatter.

That was just one of many broken things on the night. A linesman had to leave the ice in the eighth minute of the final frame when one of his skates broke. And a Bulldogs backhander dented a buckle on Tobe’s mask, forcing the goaltender to skate to the bench to have it repaired midway through the second period.

“Yeah, there were a couple [of shots] in the head there which were interesting,” Tobe said, adding, “It wasn’t a very hard shot.”

NOTES: Modelski had only started three games this season before last night’s appearance in the starting lineup...Sean Backman and Mark Arcobello, Yale’s leaders in goals and assists, respectively, did not play for the second straight night. According to Yale Director of Sports Publicity Steve Conn, both players were “non-healthy scratches”...Junior Paul Dufault had an unlucky night, launching four shots—including a couple of point-blank opportunities—but failing to score...Tobe made 28 saves in the victory...Harvard will travel to Dartmouth/Clarkson for a best-of-three quarterfinals series. The winner advances to the ECAC Final Four in Albany, N.Y.

—Staff writer Karan Lodha can be reached at klodha@fas.harvard.edu.