For nearly 55 minutes in their Denver Cup semifinal match-up, Crothers and UMass-Lowell netminder Cam McCormick were equally spectacular.

Crothers finished with 36 saves on the night and rose to the occasion of playing against McCormick, a senior and Hockey East’s leader in goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts.

However, two late goals by the streaking River Hawks (13-3-0, 6-2-0 Hockey East) sealed Harvard’s fate in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

The win was the ninth straight for UML, a record during the school’s Division I history. The shutout—McCormick’s school-record sixth this season—pushed his individual record to 9-0-0 on the year.

After the game, McCormick’s overall goals against average sat at a downright ridiculous 0.46 goals per game. As has been the case all season long, his play between the pipes was the story of the game.

“I think that the difference in tonight’s game was the play of McCormick,” Mazzoleni said. “I thought he really played outstanding.”

According to senior captain Peter Capouch, McCormick was one piece of the puzzle.

“Lowell’s goaltender was outstanding, but they were also very good defensively,” he wrote in an e-mail. “They did not allow us many second chance scoring opportunities. They do a good job protecting the front of their net.”

The first goal of the night came courtesy of the River Hawk power play. With Harvard defenseman Dave McCulloch in the box for obstruction interference, UML forward Laurent Meunier put a rebound past Crothers with 5:24 to play for a 1-0 lead.

UML winger Mark Concannon gave his team a two-goal lead just 87 seconds later, as he gathered a pass from Ed McGrane before beating Crothers five-hole.

The Crimson nearly got on the board a minute later, but McCormick was able to stop a two-on-one bid by Kolarik.

Mazzoleni pulled Crothers for the final 1:44, and Harvard responded by generating chances in the Lowell zone. However, McCormick—who finished with 27 saves—was once again equal to the task.

The loss snapped Harvard’s four-game unbeaten streak and marked the second time this season that the Crimson had been shut out.

“I thought we played well tonight and gave ourselves a chance to win the game,” Mazzoleni said.

Neither team had many power play opportunities. UML capitalized on one of its three chances while Harvard went 0-for-2 on the man advantage.