Harvard players mob goalie Kyle Richter after their 3-1 victory over Cornell in the ECAC playoffs last night in Albany, N.Y. The Crimson will play Princeton tonight for the ECAC title.
By Brian Sullivan |
PUBLISHED: March 22, 2008 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: November 17, 2018 at 12:00 a.m.
ALBANY, N.Y. – Harvard and Cornell sought the same path to the NCAA tournament, but that road was of the one-lane variety.
And after last night, only the Crimson are still traveling on it.
Harvard, fueled by three power-play goals, took down Cornell, 3-1, in the ECAC tournament semifinals, moving one win away from an automatic NCAA tournament berth.
"It was a hard-fought game, as it always is," Crimson coach Ted Donato said. "In the most respectful way, I say that I'm happy to see Topher Scott, Ray Sawada, and some of these other Cornell guys graduate."
Harvard (17-12-4) will play for its fourth ECAC title in seven years tonight against Princeton, which blanked Colgate, 3-0, in the first semifinal yesterday behind 27 saves from Zane Kalembas. The Crimson and Tigers split their regular-season series, with each game decided by a goal.
Harvard and Cornell (18-14-3) both had chances in the opening period.
Big Red goalie Ben Scrivens stopped Dave Watters on the doorstep early, and Crimson netminder Kyle Richter made a chest save on an Evan Barlow one-timer later in the frame.
Harvard didn't let the tension of a 0-0 deadlock linger into the second period, however.
On the power play, Watters tipped a Brian McCafferty shot from the point past Scrivens for a 1-0 lead at 3:35.
The Crimson went back on the man-advantage the next minute and again made the Big Red pay, with Jon Pelle's goal putting them up two at 5:02.
Cornell played the power-play game as well, halving the Harvard lead at 6:57 of the second, as Scott scored off a wide-open backdoor feed from Sawada.
Referee Peter Feola put his whistle away in the final period as the 98-year-old rivalry dissolved into little more than a color-coordinated street brawl.
Cornell got a break at 14:14 of the stanza when Jack Christian was sent to the penalty box for tripping.
The Big Red's electric power play – which accounted for more than a third of the team's goals this season – applied fierce pressure to the Crimson defense, but timely saves by Richter kept Harvard in the lead.
"When Kyle's on, it just makes everyone more confident," Donato said.
Harvard then got its own man-advantage when Matt McCollem was slashed by Cornell's Jared Seminoff on a breakaway. Pelle, alone near the crease, tipped an Alex Biega blast high over the goalie for Harvard's third power-play goal of the night, a clincher at 17:24 of the period.
Brian Sullivan