Harvard had also worked overtime for its win against Clarkson the night before, while Cornell cruised into the finals with an easy 3-0 victory over RPI.

But the skaters from both teams somehow found bursts of energy when necessary. Freshman forward Tom Cavanagh—the hero of Friday’s win over Clarkson—was especially active in the second overtime for Harvard, just missing on a mini-breakaway opportunity early in the period.

Cornell also had its chances to end the game—including one where Crimson freshman goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris lost the puck in his own crease—but the Big Red was unable to capitalize.

“Our legs were tired, but our hearts were not tired,” Moore said. “Mentally we were there and that was the difference.”

Just like he was in the semifinal game, Grumet-Morris was huge in the extra periods Saturday. The freshman goaltender maintained his poise, turning away shot after shot for his third overtime win in as many games.

Harvard presented an impressive ability to score against the stingy Big Red defense, which entered the game ranked No. 1 in the country, allowing just 1.64 goals per game. The Crimson scored three or more goals in each of its meetings against Cornell this season.

Harvard took advantage of the 1980 Rink’s Olympic-sized surface, which is fifteen feet wider than a regulation rink. The Crimson utilized its superior speed to offset the bigger Cornell skaters and find holes in the Big Red defense.

“Playing on the Olympic sheet, they were able to spread us out the entire game,” Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. “It forced us to be more patient, which is not our strong point.”

Cornell narrowly avoided disaster at the end of regulation. It is customary for a hockey referee to not call any penalty short of criminal assault late in a game as important as last night’s, but referee Scott Hansen whistled Cornell defenseman Doug Murray for roughing with just over a minute left to play. The controversial call infuriated Schafer, the Big Red bench and the few thousand Cornell fans in attendance.

Harvard was unable to capitalize on the unexpected man advantage, though, as Cornell easily killed off the penalty, which extended into the first overtime.

Harvard opened the game tentatively, containing Cornell, but unable to muster much offensive pressure on its own. When Cornell failed to score early, though, Harvard seemed to gain confidence, and the Crimson opened the scoring at 16:38 when Moore unleashed a wrist shot from the left face-off circle that snuck through Underhill’s pads.

Harvard had the lead, but not for long. Cornell tied the game 50 seconds later on a goal by Krzysztof Wieckowski.

Despite the quick Big Red score, Harvard’s goal energized the Crimson, who was finally able to establish consistent offensive pressure toward the end of the first period.

The second period featured furious action and simply dominating five-on-five hockey from the Crimson, who outshot the Big Red 10-3. Defensive breakdowns and penalties plagued Harvard, however, and the teams skated off tied at three.

Cornell started the period on the power play after an obstruction call on sophomore defenseman Kenny Smith. The Big Red took advantage of the Harvard penalty just 42 seconds in, when Sam Paolini’s close-range shot trickled to the right of Grumet-Morris for a power-play goal, giving the Big Red a 2-1 lead.