Powered by a two-goal third period, Harvard improved to 7-3-2 in the ECAC and 9-6-3 overall with a 4-2 victory over archrival Yale on Saturday evening at the Bright Hockey Center.
The Crimson extended its lead in the ECAC, as its 18 points are now six better than the Eli, which fell to 5-5-2 in conference play and 5-10-2 overall.
Harvard also improved to 21-1-3 against Yale at Bright, as the only time that the Bulldogs have tasted victory in the Crimson’s rink was during the 1997-98 season.
The Crimson began its offensive flurry midway through the third period. With his team on the man advantage, sophomore Tyler Kolarik found himself alone in front of the net and promptly smacked a shot past a sprawled Dan Lombard.
Junior Brett Nowak followed suit just five minutes later with a power-play tally of his own. Nowak was in the right place at the right time when he one-timed a loose rebound in front of the net. That goal, Nowak’s team-leading ninth of the year, put Harvard in front by a score of 4-3.
Although the Bulldogs made a comeback in the waning seconds of the game, thanks to a goal by freshman Chris Higgins with only 40 ticks remaining on the clock, it was too little, too late as the Crimson held on to secure the victory.
At the onset, things didn’t look so promising for the home team as it once again suffered a slow start to the game. The Bulldogs jumped in front of the Crimson with less than five minutes to play in the first period. After having just killed off Yale’s first power-play of the game, Harvard found itself trapped deep in its own zone. A quick pass from the right wing by junior Evan Wax found the stick of Mike Klema, who was positioned right in front of the Crimson net,. Klema made a quick fake and then blasted a shot past Harvard goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris for the 1-0 advantage.
It didn’t take long for Harvard to even up the score as Dennis Packard netted his seventh goal of the season at the 5:27 mark of the second period. Packard collected a shovel pass from sophomore Kenny Smith in the left faceoff circle. After taking one quick stride forward, Packard wristed a shot past the left pad of Lombard.
Yale regained the lead thanks to a Luke Earl tally at the 10:52 mark of the second period, and things would never be the same. Less than two minutes later, Harvard was granted a penalty shot after a Yale player covered the puck in the crease. Harvard’s Dominic Moore deposited his seventh goal into the back of the net to even the contest at 2-2. That penalty shot set the stage for the two-goal outburst by the Crimson in the final period of play
