Bye Secured With Victory

ITHACA, N.Y.—A desperate Cornell team skated faster, hit harder, and produced more quality scoring chances. But at the end of the game, it was the No. 20 Harvard men’s hockey team that came out on top, stealing one away from the Big Red, 3-1, in the regular-season finale Saturday night at Lynah Rink.

Though the Crimson (14-11-4, 12-7-3 ECAC) and the Big Red (14-12-3, 12-9-1) entered the game tied for third place with Union in the conference standings, Harvard’s victory secured a first-round bye in the ECAC playoffs for the visitors while dropping Cornell to fifth place.

The Crimson will have two weeks off before hosting a best-of-three quarterfinal series against an opponent to be determined starting on March 14.

“Our guys knew what was at stake,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said, adding, “I couldn’t be more proud of the leadership on our team to really step up there in the third [period], on the road and in a tough environment.”

Senior center Paul Dufault registered the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal at 13:27 of the third period.

Despite several minutes of near-incessant pressure by the Big Red attack, Harvard caught a break when Cornell iced the puck. Dufault won the puck drop in the right faceoff circle of the Big Red zone and then headed for the net as senior winger Jon Pelle and freshman forward Michael Biega took hacks at the puck. Although Cornell netminder Ben Scrivens was in position for the first few attempts, he could only slide right helplessly as Dufault slotted a loose puck past him at the left post, giving his team the 2-1 lead.

“They [had] five senior forwards playing tonight,” said Big Red coach Mike Schafer. “They’ve got some guys that are pretty weathered on their hockey team as far as going on the road and playing, and you can see that from the way they’re playing right now.”

Senior leadership served the Crimson throughout the night. In the first period, Harvard found itself back on its heels for the second night in a row after taking three penalties.

Unlike Friday night, however, when the Crimson entered the first intermission down a goal, the Harvard penalty kill—led by goaltender Kyle Richter, who finished with 22 saves on the night—held up strong and even produced an unexpected surprise—a shorthanded tally.

With sophomore blueliner Ian Tallett in the penalty box for hitting from behind, co-captain Mike Taylor forced a turnover at the Crimson blue line and broke up the ice, gaining a step on his defender. Despite having a stick in his side from the trailing defender, Taylor deked Scrivens on the forehand side and finished on the backhand to put Harvard ahead, 1-0.

“The Taylor goal was an incredible individual effort,” Donato said. “Mike Taylor is a guy that has been a great player for us this year and, over the past month, has kind of found another level. That was a big-time play by a big-time player in a big game.”

While senior Tyler Magura’s empty-net goal rounded out the scoring in what appeared on paper to be a rather one-sided game, the Crimson dodged bullets all night. Cornell produced several extended possessions in the Harvard zone, pressuring Richter and firing several shots towards net. The Crimson defense played its part, blocking 13 shots and forcing several others wide by cutting off lanes. But there were several instances where the Big Red simply failed to convert on good scoring opportunities.

“In a big game like that tonight, with all the excitement in the air, we didn’t show much poise,” Schafer said, adding, “We had some breakdowns—we had some opportunities, but we didn’t get our head up and make that extra pass and forced it [instead].”

That, ultimately, was the difference in the game. Except a span at the end of the third period where Harvard struggled on the power play—including a brief 5-on-3—the visitors made the most of their chances, stealing back the momentum with unexpected goals. On the other hand, Cornell—perhaps feeling extra pressure because of being on the losing end of tiebreakers against both the Crimson and the Dutchmen—tensed up and failed to execute in key moments.

Assistant captain Colin Greening, breaking free alone into the Harvard zone, managed to beat Richter with a quick shot late in the second period to equalize and keep the Big Red in the game. But despite all its effort, the Big Red came away with a loss and finished the regular season 0-8 against the ECAC’s top four teams in conference play.

“We didn’t deserve the bye,” Schafer said. “We never beat anybody ahead of us in the standings...I really believe that we ended up probably where we deserve to end up.”

The Crimson, meanwhile, completed a stunning turnaround, taking 13 out of the 14 maximum possible points in its last seven ECAC contests. After suffering an 0-7-2 winless streak in the middle of the season, Harvard seems to be peaking at the perfect time—and on the biggest stages.

“We’re all just spent, and extremely happy—just an absolute battle just like every time up here,” Taylor said. “Home ice was on the line, first-round bye—and it just feels unbelievable right now.”

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