Pettit Leads Men's Hockey Ivy Honorees

As it prepares for this weekend's ECAC playoff shodown with Cornell, the Harvard men's hockey team (15-14-2, 14-8-2 ECAC) can scarce afford to bask in the glory of its postseason accolades. It is a luxury the team will gladly do without.

College hockey's awards week began yesterday as the Ivy League recognized five Crimson skaters. Freshman Tim Pettit was named Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Year, while sophomore Dominic Moore was named to the All-Ivy First Team. Senior goaltender Oli Jonas and junior defenseman Pete Capouch came away with Second-Team honors. Assistant captain Chris Bala received Honorable Mention All-Ivy status..

"It's great anytime when you get an award like this," Bala said. "It reflects on the guys who play around you everyday, on the team as a whole."

Although the performance of Moore, last year's prized rookie, this season was hardly surprising, Pettit's emergence this season was unexpected by many Harvard hockey followers.

The freshman came out of nowhere to notch three goals and three assists in Ivy play this year, despite missing two games against Princeton and Yale due to a knee injury.

Although the Ivy League recognized Pettit today, the freshman phenom's chief contributions came in critical non-Ivy ECAC games where he made the most of increased ice-time to help pull the slumping Crimson out of its scoring drought.

Pettit was named ECAC Rookie of the Week twice this season.

"The first word a lot of people use when talking about Tim is surprise,'" Bala said. "But he's just done his job from day one, and it's been a treat to play with him. He makes other players around him better."

Pettit will share the award with Yale's Jeff Dwyer, a defenseman who was also named to the Second Team.

Moore followed up on his own stellar rookie season by scoring five goals and seven assists in Ivy League play, placing him among the league leaders in points. The First Team selection is his first.

"Individual awards like this are nice, since as a player you work hard to improve everyday," Moore said. "It tells you where you are, and it's great to be recognized. I'm honored."

Capouch, who has tallied three goals and four assists against Ivy foes, was quick to point out the relative insignificance of the award compared to the Crimson's upcoming ECAC playoff game against Cornell.

"It's a nice honor, but at the same time it's only an individual honor," Capouch said. "We're a lot more concerned with how the team does this weekend."

The game against the Big Red will feature the conference's two top goalies. Second-Teamer Jonas allowed 2.40 goals per game in Ivy play and boasted a .926 save percentage. He will be opposed by First Team netminder Matt Underhill.

Bala contributed four goals and five assists in his final Ivy League campaign.

Yale's Jeff Hamilton was unanimously chosen the Ivy League's Player of the Year. The senior was the top scorer with 18 points in league play.

The parade of awards will continue later this week as the ECAC honors are announced in Lake Placid. Pettit, one of the ECAC leaders in scoring, will once again be among the favorites for rookie honors. Jonas, among the leaders in save percentage, will face stiff competition from the likes of Underhill and Clarkson sophomore Mike Walsh for goaltender of the year honors.

In other Harvard hockey awards news, Tyler Kolarik was named ECAC Rookie of the Week on Monday. The freshman hit for seven points in the Crimson's sweep of Yale this weekend, including a five-point outing in Saturday's clinching 7-4 win.