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M. Hockey Roars Into Playoffs

With the score tied 3-3 at 9:02 of the thirdperiod, Steve Moore gave his team the lead forgood with its third power play goal of the night.

Schwefel received the puck down low just insidethe left faceoff circle. He attempted to slip across-ice pass to an open Stonehouse. A Vermontdefender deflected the feed, but it came right toMoore, who buried it from in front of the net.

That was the climax of one of Moore's bestgames of the year-two goals and two assists.

"It was a great win," Tomassoni said. "We cameup with three [man-advantage goals]. The powerplay was real big for us tonight."

The goal vindicated a persistent Crimson teamwho had trailed 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 through the firsthalf of the game.

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The momentum really began shifting Harvard'sway at 16:16 of the second when Turco moved in onVermont sophomore goaltender Andrew Allen off acollapsed off-man rush. Turco deked to hisbackhand and rung it topshelf.

"We were never smart enough to put it away,"Vermont Coach Mike Gilligan said. "As soon as[Harvard] tied it up, they had the momentum andour guys heads went down."

Turco's goal erased some personal demons. Overthe past couple of weeks, he had numerous goldenchances but had struggled to even hit the net.

However, the goal's flashy style seemed out ofcharacter for his line with fellow juniors TrevorAllman and Brett Chodorow. The unit prides itselfon establishing a presence along the boards,banging and cycling its way to create chances andwas highly effective all weekend long.

"I've had a lot of opportunities lately, it'snice to finally bury one," Turco said. "Our linereally enjoys playing together. We try and get itdown there and get things going."

Vermont pressed in the closing minutes of theperiod for its fourth lead of the game. ButPrestifilippo stood on his head, diving everywhereto keep the game tied.

In a wild last twenty seconds, sophomoredefenseman Graham Morrell failed to convert on abreakaway and the Catamounts swarmed down the ice.Prestifilippo came out of his goal to cut down theangle of sophomore defenseman Martin Wilde's shotfrom the center point.

The rebound popped to the Catamounts' leadingscorer, Stephane Piche, at the right of the juniornetminder. Piche seemed to have an empty net, but"Presto" lunged and batted the shot away with hisstick as time expired. Prestifilippo stopped 29 of32 Vermont shots on the evening.

The sequence sent the evenly divided crowd of2,677 to its feet.

"They were big saves and they were also timelysaves," Tomassoni said. "It's a real big boostwhen your goaltender makes saves like that. Andit's just as big a momentum swing for the otherteam as well."

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