Harvard 5, Bowling Green 3
The Crimson entered the Denver Cup with hopes of extending its four-game unbeaten streak and building on its 3-3 tie with Michigan.
Midway through its second game of the tournament, though, the Crimson was in real danger of leaving with a complete disappointment.
Playing in the consolation game against Bowling Green State (Ohio), Harvard found itself trailing 3-0 against the underdog Falcons (5-13-4, 4-10-2 CCHA) with less than five minutes to play in the second period.
As it turned out, the “Cardiac Crimson” was just making for good theater once again. Harvard rattled off five unanswered goals and Crothers held the Falcons at bay in a strong relief effort to turn away BGSU in the Crimson’s fourth comeback win of the season.
The comeback began as the Falcons skated with a man advantage and a three-goal lead late in the second period.
Just as they had done against Colgate earlier in the season, Packard and linemate Brett Nowak jump-started a 2-on-1 shorthanded opportunity that culminated in a Packard score. This time, the Kingston, Pa. native beat Falcon goaltender Jordan Sigalet glove-side to make it a two-goal game with 4:57 to play in the period.
The score remained that way through the rest of the period and the first 5:43 of the final frame before another shorthanded tally by the Crimson cut the BGSU lead to 3-2. Capouch worked a perfect give-and-go with Kolarik, getting the puck back in front for his first goal of the season.
“It was nice to break the ice with my first goal. It took me quite awhile to get into game shape after the injuries early on, but I’m feeling much better now, and it’s allowing me to play a bit more offensively,” Capouch said. “The goal allowed us to grab the third period momentum that we started to pick up after [Packard’s] goal in the 2nd period. We really buzzed them after that.”
Less than five minutes later, Harvard forward Andrew Lederman tied the game with his first collegiate goal on a blast from the slot that beat Sigalet.
With momentum safely on its side, the Crimson was able to complete the turnaround with 6:57 to play in the contest, as freshman forward Tom Cavanagh potted his second goal of the season—and the eventual game-winner—with assists from Kolarik and Capouch.
Cavanagh’s score was the only power play tally on the night. Harvard finished 1-for-5 on the man advantage, while Bowling Green came up empty-handed in the same number of tries.
Nowak completed the scoring with an empty-netter at the 19:15 mark.
Though Harvard dominated the first period—outshooting BGSU by a 15-6 margin—it was the Falcons who struck first on a one-timer by junior forward Tyler Knight with just 58 seconds to go in the frame.
Then, Bowling Green captain and leading scorer Greg Day put his team up 3-0 with two second-period tallies. First, Day beat Grumet-Morris at the 3:17 mark after redirecting a pass from sophomore forward D’Arcy McConvey. His next tally came less than five minutes later and caused Mazzoleni to lift Grumet-Morris in favor of Crothers, who held BGSU scoreless the rest of the way.
“You always have to be ready [to go in], but in the back of your mind you don’t want to go in,” Crothers said. “You want the other goalie to do well. But I prepare for every game the same way and was ready for it. It turned out well for us in the end.”
Crothers finished the contest with 21 saves, while Grumet-Morris ended his evening with nine. Sigalet stopped 42 shots for the Falcons, one night after his teammate Tyler Masters made 51 saves in a 3-1 loss to then-No. 3 Denver.
“Overall we had a good weekend in Denver. We played hard for six periods, but for the first five we just couldn’t get any goals,” Capouch said. “Obviously, we weren’t happy about being in the 3rd place game, but we continued to battle throughout the tournament.”
Tournament Notebook
The host Pioneers (16-2-0, 11-1-0 WCHA) defeated UML, 2-1, for their second straight Denver Cup championship on the strength of two goals by senior winger Chris Paradise. The win was the fifth in a row for Denver. The River Hawks, on the other hand, saw their winning streak snapped, and the loss was McCormick’s first of the season. … Two Harvard players—Capouch and Crothers—were named to the all-tournament team. The other honorees included forwards Greg Barber (Denver), Day, McGrane, and defenseman Aaron Mackenzie (Denver). Barber earned tournament MVP honors.… Harvard junior forward Aaron Kim skated in both games of the tournament, his first action since the Crimson’s Nov. 10 tie at Dartmouth. He was out for a month and a half with a hand injury.… Welch played both games of the Cup, the first ice time he had dressed in the month of December after injuring his leg in a 2-1 home victory against St. Lawrence on Nov. 30.