The last two tallies were definitely icing on the cake. On a power play with just under eight minutes left, Nielsen maneuvered the puck over to freshman defender Ben Storey, who first faked a shot, skated around the fallen St. Lawrence player and then ripped a shot into the back of the net for a power-play goal and a 4-2 Crimson lead.
Higdon provided the nail in the coffin, wristing the rebound of his original shot past Owen for the final 5-2 score.
"Now there's no doubt in our team that we can beat teams in the playoffs," Higdon said.
"In my opinion, our record doesn't indicate what type of a team we are," Tomassoni said. "We have played well in that nine-game streak, but the puck would not go in for us at the right times."
The puck certainly did so last night, so with two points under its belt, the Crimson enter tonight's game looking for a win or a tie to advance the squad to the ECAC Final Four in Lake Placid next weekend. A St. Lawrence win will force a winner-take-all matchup here tomorrow night.
"It's important that we not be satisfied with this win and come out strong tomorrow night," Tracy said.
Rebecca A. Blaeser contributed to the reporting of this story. First Period SLU--Cullen 6 (B. Murphy, Kungle) 11:10. Har--MacDonald 7 (Nielsen, Adams) 16:36. Second Period SLU--Cassidy 7 (Stevens, Creurer) 8:12. (PPG) Har--Adams 7 (Higdon) 18:31. Third Period Har--Higdon 12 (Karmanos) 1:35. Har--Storey 2 (Nielsen, Halfnight) 12:02. (PPG) Har--Higdon 13 (unassisted) 14:06. Saves: Har--Tracy 10-15-7--32; SLU--Owen 16-12-11--39. Power Play: Har--1/4 ; SLU--1/2. Attendance: 2,220