Harvard’s Noah Welch showed the sellout crowd of 2,776 at Bright Hockey

Center the combination of composure, strength and skill that marks him as one of the best young defensemen in the nation.

As the Cornell faithful stood on its feet anticipating its team’s fifthvictory of the young season, Welch collected a pass just above the left faceoff circle and squared himself to Big Red goaltender Matt Underhill.

Then, Welch blasted the puck over Underhill’s left shoulder and into the twine, silencing the Red Sea.

“That was a great play by Noah,” Mazzoleni said of the game-tying goal. “He

showed tremendous poise. That was a big-time shot.”

The momentum had suddenly swung Harvard’s way, and a big play by junior Brett Nowak kept it there.

Just over one minute into overtime, Tyler Kolarik fired a shot from the high slot. Underhill made the initial save but was unable to control the rebound.

A mad scramble ensued, as everyone on the ice converged around the goal. In the midst of the crowd, though, Nowak’s stick pushed the puck past the line 1:14 into the extra session, touching off a mad celebration both on and off the ice.

It was fitting that the game-winner for Harvard came off a rebound, as both coaches saw that as the key to the game.

“We talked all week about second-chance opportunities, especially against this team with such a good goalie,” Mazzoleni said.

“Matt struggled all night controlling rebounds,” Cornell Coach Mike Schafer said. “He wasn’t smothering the puck around the net, and that’s very unusual for him.”

Before Welch’s goal, though, it looked like Schafer would add to his perfect record at Bright and run Harvard’s winless streak against the Big Red to seven games.

The Big Red took a 3-2 lead earlier in the third period as winger Denis Ladouceur took a pass on the tape from center David Kozier and put it past

Grumet-Morris at the 6:59 mark.