Icemen Get Lucky 13 Against Green

The Harvard men's hockey team entered Hanover Saturday afternoon with a 12-game winning streak over Dartmouth.

The Crimson left Hanover Saturday night with a baker's dozen.

Sparked by a late third-period goal by freshman Peter Ciavaglia that broke a 3-3 deadlock, Harvard defeated the Green, 5-3, in front of 2444 spectators at Thompson Arena.

The victory improved the Crimson's untarnished record to 5-0 and kept it atop the ECAC standings. It also rated a "10" in the "Let's Get Physical" department.

"It was the roughest game of the year," said Ciavaglia, whose goal with five minutes left in the game off a rebound from Dartmouth goalie Steve Laurin was the game-winner.

In all, a total of 20 penalties were called, including three consecutive ones on Harvard's Kevan Melrose within seven minutes of the second period.

"[Dartmouth's] style of play is pretty physical," Melrose said. "With that comes the extra punch and the extra jab. In the second period, they were doing everything we were. But the ref kept giving us the penalty."

The penalty fest resulted into six power-play opporutnities for each team.

Josh Caplan's power-play goal--the only one Harvard scored in six chances--gave the Crimson a 1-0 edge five minutes into the first period. After Harvard jumped to a 2-0 lead, Dartmouth's Derek Tweddell put the Green on the board with 5:15 left in the opening period.

After Melrose scored early in the second period to regain a two-goal lead, the Green took advantage of a few penalties and mounted a comeback.

"The big crowd got them going," Ciavaglia said. "They were hustling."

Tweddell's second goal of the game evened the score at three. But, true to its familiar late-game heroics, the Crimson responded by applying constant pressure at the Green side of the net and tightening up on defense.

Freshman goalie Michael Francis--who entered the game as the ECAC's top netminder--recorded 10 saves in the final period and a total of 33 in the game. Francis has played more minutes than any other ECAC goalie (294) and has the most wins in the league (five).

As for the unusual amount of penalties in the game, Ciavaglia said that they reflected Dartmouth's rugged style, a style for which the Crimson was prepared.

"They wanted to get us into that rough type of game," he said. "They wanted to get us out of our game, which is outskating them."

The Red Road

But, besides all the difficulties Harvard had against the Green, a more important obstacle lies ahead for the Crimson this weekend when it travels to upstate New York. The icemen will face Cornell and Colgate, two teams looking to take the ECAC crown from Cambridge.

"This weekend is a real test for us," Ciavaglia said.

Crimson, 5-3 at Thompson Arena Hanover, N.H. Harvard  2-1-2--5 Dartmouth  1-2-0--3

First Period--1, H Caplan (Hartje, Vukonich) 4:46; 2, H Vukonich (Murphy, Melrose) 13:06; 1, D Tweddell (Glover, Weiss) 14:45. Penalties--H, Sweeney (hitting from behind) 2:48; D, McInerny (high sticking) 3:01; D, Glover (late hit) 4:38; H, Donato (slashing) 10:10; D, Glover (cross-checking) 18:56; H, Powlaski (elbowing) 19:08.

Second Period--3, H Melrose (Vukonich) 3:16; 2, D Finks (Miller, Hanlon) 12:05; 3, Tweddell (O'Hern, Tomalty) 17:16. Penalties--D, Miller (tripping) :35; H, Melrose (holding) 8:19; H. Melrose (tripping) 15:00; H, Armstrong (high sticking) 18:18; D, Gualteri (hooking) 18:36.

Third Period--4, H Ciaviglia (Pawloski) 14:48; 5, H Armstrong (Pawloski, Young) 19:29. Penalties--D, Goulet (hooking) 10:29; H, Melrose (playing without a helmet) 17:12; D, Weiss (roughing) 19:20; H, Janfaza (roughing) 19:20; H, Young (roughing) 19:43; H, Caplan (roughing) 19:43; D, Goulet (roughing); D, Glover (roughing) 19:43.

Saves--H, Francis 14-9-10--33; D. Laurin 8-8-12--28.

A: 2444