Harvard's Kent Parrot and Yale's Jack Morrison shared the Ivy hockey spotlight Saturday, boosting the Crimson into an unexpected first-place tie with Cornell.
Parrot's four goals, including the first three of the game, paced the hosting Harvards to an impressive 6-2 win over Princeton, while Yale's second-team All-Ivy center contributed two assists and a clutch overtime goal in an unbelievable 4-3 upset of the previously undefeated Big Red at Ithaca.
The defending Ivy champion's downfall was piped into Boston live via Channel 38 Saturday afternoon (at the same time the Big Red's wrestlers were losing to Harvard in Cambridge), and it gave tremendous incentive to the Crimson skaters when they took the ice before 2200 fans that evening.
With defenseman Charlie Scammon back from the injured list and senior goalie Bill Fitzsimmons hot off his rennaisance win over RPI Thursday, Harvard turned in what was easily its best home performance of the season.
Parrot Pokes
The Tigers held Harvard to a 1-0 first period lead. That goal was set up by defenseman Don Grimble, who recovered the puck in the Princeton zone and passed to sophomore right wing Pete Mueller near the face-off circle. Mueller's centering pass went across the crease to Parrot, who poked it in from the goal's left corner.
The line of Parrot, Mueller, and Barry Johnson smashed the contest open midway through the second period, scoring three times in the space of one minute. At 8:15, Johnson dropped a pass for Parrot, who slapped the puck into the upper right corner of the cage from 35 feet before goalie Regan Kerney could move.
Thirty-five seconds later Parrot beat Kerney again with a quick backhander 15 feet in front of the net. On the next attack. Parrot passed from behind the cage to Grimble, whose low, hard shot was deflected in by Mueller from the left post.
Then at 12:02 Jack Garrity, the Crimson's most persistent forechecker, parlayed his distinctive move into Harvard's fifth goal at 12:02. Garrity harried Tiger defenseman John Baker with two well-aimed slashes, knocked Baker's stick away and captured the puck on the third, and was all alone for a lamp-lighting backhander.
Three minutes later Fitzsimmons highlighted his dramatic performance with a kick-save of a shot that was seemingly past him, and the crowd turned its attention to Fitzsimmons's bid for his first varsity shutout in three years of play.
But Mason Young converted John Ritchie's pass to put Princeton on the score-board with a little more than a minute left in the second period.
Ritchie produced a second Tiger tally at 4:12 of the third period, but Parrot donned his mortarboard-trick two minutes later with a duplication of Garrity's feat.
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