Barrage of Goals Buries Bobcats in Game One

On Friday night at the Bright Hockey Center, the Harvard men’s hockey team quickly silenced any talk that two weeks off the ice could be detrimental to its playoff run.

In the first game of the ECAC tournament quarterfinals, No. 17 Crimson (15-11-4, 12-7-3 ECAC) crushed Quinnipiac with an 11-0 shutout.

In Harvard’s dominating performance against the Bobcats (20-14-4, 9-9-4 ECAC), senior Dave Watters provided one of the driving forces behind the historic effort. After scoring only two points throughout the regular season, Watters posted three goals and two assists on the night.

“I think Watters was superb,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “He’s a guy that really stepped forward for us. It’s nice to see Dave have a great game.”

While offensive playmakers like Watters and freshman forward Matt McCollem—who contributed a goal and three assists—provided the scoring opportunities, on the other side of the rink, sophomore goaltender Kyle Richter and the defense simultaneously blanked the Bobcats, the team’s fourth shutout of the season.

Although welcomed, the historically dominating numbers were not expected. The Crimson enjoyed time off the ice due to a first-round bye last week. By contrast, last weekend against Brown, Quinnipiac put on an offensive show and scored 14 goals in two games.

And as the first period began, the Bobcats appeared as if they wanted to score another 14 this weekend. They matched the Crimson in all aspects of the first period—except goals.

Harvard scored twice in the first period, which featured Watter’s first goal. Accepting the rebound from senior forward Alex Meintel’s blocked shot, Watters deftly slipped it into the goal from the left post as opposing goalie Bud Fisher struggled to get his bearings.

The Crimson’s play was far from perfect. Harvard failed to convert on three power-play opportunities, but this trend would soon change.

After a comparatively slow start, the Crimson caught fire during the second period. The Bobcats left the locker room determined to swing the momentum back in their favor, but Harvard maintained its composure.

“I think that we recognize that [the Bobcats are] a very dangerous team that’s very good offensively,” Donato said. “We didn’t want to get in a position where we were turning the puck over and trading a lot of chances with them up and down the ice, so we felt that we wanted to establish our forecheck and get the puck in deep.”

Donato’s plan paid off. During the second period, the Crimson scored five goals, including one on a power-play opportunity. Quinnipiac’s growing frustration was evident, and the Bobcat’s lack of discipline cost them.

With five minutes to go in the second, Quinnipiac’s Brian Lietsch unleashed several punches on forward Alex Biega in a one-sided fight to nearly earn himself an ejection.

“I don’t think we got caught up in a lot of the stuff that didn’t matter to us,” Donato said.

As Lietsch looked on from the penalty box, Watters glided up the rink and accepted assists from McCollem and senior forward Paul Dufault before backhanding the puck past a looking Fisher.

Following Watter’s second goal, Quinnipiac pulled starting goaltender Bud Fisher in favor of teammate Pat McGann, but even a new goaltender could not reverse the trend of Crimson dominance. Soon after the switch, Rogers launched the puck past the fresh McGann, bringing Harvard’s lead to 6-0.

Despite the score and obvious possession of momentum, the Crimson adhered to Donato’s words and maintained discipline to the very end of the game.

“I think that you’re a little apprehensive after not playing last weekend,” Watters said. “And obviously they played last weekend and played very well, so we didn’t know what to expect.”

Ahead 6-0, Harvard continued its methodical attack on the Bobcats throughout the third.

On another power-play opportunity, junior forward Jimmy Fraser took a slapshot at the goal from up the middle. Despite stopping the puck, McGann fumbled and lost sight of it, allowing Watters to swoop in and earn a hat trick.

With 9:21 to go and up 10-0, Richter skated off the ice to a standing ovation as sophomore backup goaltender John Riley took his place to finish out the shutout. The two combined for 29 saves.

Quinnipiac also subbed out McGann for its third-string goaltender, allowing the crowd at Bright to see the fifth goalie of the night and prompting the trumpet section of the Harvard band to blare out “Ode To Joy.”

The Crimson rounded out its offensive display with nine minutes to go in the third when junior forward Steve Rolacek took a rebound and scored the 11 and final goal.

“We’re real happy and excited about tonight’s game but tomorrow’s a whole other story,” Donato said. “We recognize that it’ll be a much different team tomorrow. We have a lot of respect for their talent and we expect a tight match tomorrow night.”