"The game was still very much a game after the first," said Chodorow, one of the few Crimson players who played well. "We needed to attack, and instead we dug ourselves a hole."
With the score 4-1, and Harvard struggling to mount any real attack--it took 11 shots on Grant in the middle period, none of them threatening--the game turned ugly.
Upset that a Clarkson player attempted to jar loose a covered puck well after the referee had blown his whistle, Prestifilippo uncharacteristically sprung up and clocked the offender.
Later, Chodorwo and sophomore defenseman Liam McCarthy traded blows with Smith and Drakensjo. The severe scuffling after the whistle continued through the end of the period.
"Toughness isn’t punching a guy after the whistle," Tomassoni said. "Toughness is winning those battles along the boards, those loose pluck confrontation. We didn't do our share of those tonight."
At least the extracurricular activities kept the second period interesting. By the third period, Harvard had nothing left in its tank and played twenty minutes of hockey as long and boring as the ride home.
The Crimson managed just two shots on Grant in the third.
"They are a very good team, "Scorsune said ."We just wore down and by the end of the game we just lost interest."
The only bright spot of the Crimson for the evening was the resiliency of Prestifilipp. He played an outstanding game, not having a chance on any Clarkson goal. "Presto" was a perfect four-of-four on Golden Knight breakaways, stoning two by sophomore sniper Eric Cole.
Prestifilipp's flashiest stop came while shorthanded--a situation which earned far more offensive opportunities than the futile Harvard power play--when Cole blazed coast-to-coast down the ice. Prestifilippo made a full split to stop the puck, which sat on the goal line for a few precarious seconds before Storey swept it away.
Notes
Prestifilippo's critical third-period miss was not the first such goal he's given up in his career at St. Lawrence. During his freshman season, Prestifilippo gave up an almost identical goal to former Boston Bruin Joel Pripic in a 6-3 Saints victory on Feb. 22, 1997. Pripic's shot came from about the same spot behind the blueline and headed toward the same end of the ice.
Millar, the team's leading scorer, left the St. Lawrence game halfway through the second period, not to return. Tomassoni would not comment on the nature of his departure, only to say he was not injured. Millar skated on Saturday.
The bad blood in the Clarkson game began before play even began. During warm-ups, freshman forward Kyle Clark got into a heated verbal and shoving match with Clarkson senior defenseman Nate Strong. Both players received 10-minute misconduct penalties.
Strong, however, had yet to play in a game all year. He was only dressed for the pre-game skate around because it was Senior Night in Potsdam.