What does a late-season surge, an ECAC tournament title and a NCAA birth change?

Everything.

Harvard entered the 2002-03 season nationally ranked in the top 15 and returned the conference’s most explosive offense, of which Moore is the the unquestioned leader.

“I’m a creative player,” Moore said at the start of the season. “And a lot of times I may have bucked the system [Mazzoleni] has been trying to enforce.”

Whereas Moore’s independent creative style on the ice landed him on the bench last season, there are early signs that Mazzoleni may be more willing this year to allow his offensive players more freedom on the ice.

That should serve as a warning to goaltenders around the conference.

“This year [Mazzoleni] has more confidence in us,” Moore said. “He’s got a more talented group of players that he feels he can allow more liberty with.”

You can see the praise and admiration for Moore in Mazzoleni’s comments.

“He is a slasher and dasher. And a true skill player,” Mazzoleni said. “It is nice to see someone who has worked so hard and given so much to this program rewarded. He’s a humble man and this is a very rewarding milestone for him.”

The Crimson has the talent at forward to punish defenses on a weekly basis, as long as the effort is consistently there and its most creative players are given the opportunity to shine.

“There are a lot of skilled guys on this team right now and that is why we have such high expectations for ourselves,” Moore said. “Last week wasn’t ideal, but we learned our lesson that we have to compete every night to get a win despite our talent.”

With 56 shots on net Saturday against Vermont and another 32 Friday on Dartmouth, it is safe to say the Crimson took the lesson to heart.

“Vermont likes to open it up a lot,” Moore said. “We knew their run-and-gun style would backfire eventually, and we’d get our chances. We’ve got the skill that can play that open game, and it worked for us.”

It is also a lot of fun to watch.

Led by Moore, senior center Brett Nowak and junior winger Tyler Kolarik, who netted four points this weekend, Harvard showed the offensive barrage the team is capable of when it gets to the net, creates traffic and let’s its best players create opportunities.

“One of our most accomplished areas is our ability to move the puck in the offensive zone, move our feet and try to get to the net,” Mazzoleni said. “If you get to the point where it’s not there, put it back on the wall, keep being tenacious along the boards and you will be rewarded, as we were [Saturday].”

For more lessons in goal scoring, stay tuned for Dominic Moore 102, 103, 104 and beyond. It is coming soon to an arena near you.

—Staff writer Timothy Jackson can be reached at jackson2@fas.harvard.edu.