Crimson Places Third At Badger Tourney

It was not a happy holiday for the Harvard men’s hockey team. The No. 13 Crimson split a pair of games in the Bank One Badger Showdown holiday tournament on Dec. 29 and 30 in Wisconsin.

Splitting two games in a holiday tournament might normally be considered a modest success, but Harvard was the highest-ranked team and the tournament favorite before an opening round loss left the team in third place and with a lot to think about on the flight back to Boston.

“The tournament was good experience,” said sophomore goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris. “It’s progress, not perfection.”

N. Michigan 3, Harvard 2

The opening game of the Badger Showdown pitted the Crimson against No. 15 Northern Michigan (10-6-1, 8-4-0 CCHA).

Northern Michigan marked the scoreboard first, scoring a power play goal from senior Mike Stutzel at 4:44 of the second period. Classmate Dan Donnette scored an unassisted goal six and a half minutes later to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

“We started slow against Northern Michigan,” said captain Dominic Moore. “We lost track of the competitive attitude that wins us games.”

Harvard finally found its attitude and its scoring touch, mounting a flurry of offense to close out the second and tallying two goals in the last three minutes. Sophomores Tom Cavanagh and Noah Welch combined for the first Crimson goal at 17:10 after Cavanagh redirected a centering pass from Welch that slipped by goaltender Craig Kowalski.

The game-tying goal came two minutes and 49 seconds later, when junior forward Tim Pettit, the team’s leading scorer, fired a slap shot from the right face-off circle that beat both Kowalski and the horn.

The tie would not last long, however, as a Harvard turnover and a defensive miscue 47 seconds in to the final frame allowed senior forward Bryce Cockburn to score the game-winning goal.

Kowalski stopped 36 shots and stone-walled a handful of excellent chances as the Crimson spent the entire third frame attempting to tie the game.

Harvard 8, Colgate 1

Playing against familiar conference foe Colgate in the tournament consolation game the following day, Harvard took out its frustrations on the hapless Red Raiders (7-10-1, 2-4-0 ECAC), scoring eight goals and providing a comfortable cushion for freshman goaltender John Daigneau.

Junior forward Tyler Kolarik scored the game’s first goal at 9:40 of the opening period, depositing a rebound off of a shot from senior center Brett Nowak. The score would remain 1-0 through the remainder of the first, with Daigneau making some key saves to preserve the Crimson lead.

The game was blown open in the second period, however, when Harvard scored four goals, including the eventual game-winner off the stick of Kolarik.

The Crimson scoring binge included a point from 17 Harvard players.

Daigneau, playing in front of friends and family from Brookfield, Wis., stopped 25 shots and improved to 2-0-0 this season, with a solid 2.00 goals against average.

Despite the margin of victory against Colgate, Harvard’s miscues against the Wildcats spoiled what could have been a holiday sweep. Moore was able to find a silver lining after the Colgate win however.

“I thought it was a great sign the way we bounced back [after Northern Michigan].”

—Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald can be reached at tmcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.