A mini-brawl behind the Harvard net precipitated five penalties and unfortunately for Harvard, three of the players were wearing Crimson jerseys.
That set up a convenient five-on-four advantage for B.C. to begin the final stanza. And after a mere 23 seconds into the third period, Hobey Baker candidate Marty Reasoner proverbially broke Harvard's back with a critical power-play tally.
"I think that big thing was that when they scored in the third it gives them life and it puts us back on our heels," Tomassoni said. "We score one and we get a lot of energy."
But despite being overplayed throughout the third period and managing only four shots on McLaughlin, Harvard still found itself with a one-goal lead with less than five minutes remaining in the contest. Hope was still there--but soon to be dashed.
A five-on-three advantage was handed to the Eagles with two minutes remaining. So with junior Ben Storey and freshman Graham Morrell watching from the penalty box, B.C., behind a blast from the right point by Ken Hemenway, sent the contest into overtime and brought the 3,746 fans to their feet.
"Anytime you're on a five-on-three, certainly the momentum can shift very quickly," Tomassoni said. "As far as a team, it was as solid as we've been all season long."
The questionable Hughes' overtime goal ended what had been a solid game by the Crimson. Thus after dominating a Top Ten team, Harvard left the Conte Forum with only two sentiments: anger and frustration.
It was a terrible end to what could have been a beautiful night. First Period Har--Bala 1 (Adams, S. Moore) 12:16. B.C.--Farkas 3 (Hemenway, Allen) 16:08. (PPG) Second Period Har--Higdon 2 (Moore, Rodgers) 0:30. Har--Bala 2 (Adams, Storey) 14:32. (PPG) Third Period Read more in Sports
