Saturday evening a battle between two of the top teams in the ECAC was waged, and the highly entertaining result was a 2-2 tie between Harvard and host Dartmouth at Thompson Arena.
The Crimson spent the early part of the first frame shorthanded, allowing an extra-man tally to Dartmouth sophomore Hugh Jessiman at the 4:40 mark. Jessiman fired the puck from the high slot, and goalie Dov Grumet-Morris made the save, but the puck trickled through his pads and into the back of the net.
The scoring chances were there for both teams over the balance of the period, but the 1-0 advantage held up into the intermission.
The Crimson gained the equalizer midway through the second. Tim Pettit brought the puck down the left side and fired a slapper that was blocked by the defense. Unfazed, Pettit collected the puck and got it to center Tom Cavanagh at the near post, and he snuck it past Dan Yacey for his first goal of the season.
After being outshot 8-1 in the early part of the first frame — due in large part to killing consecutive penalties — the Crimson kept coming in waves, to the tune of a 23-14 shot differential late in the second.
Yacey turned away shot after shot, but could not stop a Cavanagh offering late in the period — made possible by a great play by Dennis Packard on the wall — which gave the Crimson a 2-1 lead that held up through the second period.
The hosts battled back to knot the score at two at the 4:24 mark of the final period, when senior Mike Wheelihan redirected a rebound past Grumet-Morris for his first goal of the season.
The teams skated even over the balance of regulation, impressing the sellout crowd of 4,500 with end-to-end action.
In overtime, Grumet-Morris made impressive saves against Mike Ouellette and Eric Przepiorka to preserve the tie. The junior made 23 saves on the night, while Yacey stopped 28 of 30 Harvard attempts.
The Crimson pushed its record to an even 1-1-1, while Dartmouth remains unbeaten at 2-0-1.
