"We have found a major-league collegiate hockey goaltender," Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni said. “If you’re going to be successful in major college hockey, that’s a big difference-maker.”

Two other big difference makers for Harvard on Saturday were freshman Tom Cavanagh and sophomore Tim Pettit, who gave Harvard the game’s all-important first goal at 7:55 of the first period. Cavanagh won a draw in the Maine zone back to Pettit, who fired a slap shot past Maine goalie Mike Morrison.

That lead didn’t last long as Maine tied the game 1-1 on a power play goal by Niko Dimitrakos just under three minutes later.

Harvard took its second lead of the game early in the second—again the result of a faceoff win deep in the Maine zone. This time, sophomore defenseman Dave McCulloch did the honors, firing a blue-line slapper past Morrison to take a 2-1 lead, which Maine’s Chris Heisten erased at the 12:08 mark of the second period. The Black Bears then took their first lead at 14:22 on a goal by Michael Schutte.

But Pettit and Cavanagh teamed up again to tie the game 3-3 on the power play—due to the game’s third too many man on the ice penalty—at 6:15 of the third period. Pettit created the opportunity, skating in from the blue line and crossing the Maine zone left to right. He dropped a pass to Cavanagh close behind, who picked up the puck and shot it quickly past Morrison to deadlock the contest.

The rest of the third period was a back and forth affair, with Harvard and Maine alternating momentum and excellent scoring chances throughout. Towards the end of regulation, Maine had the momentum and carried it into the overtime.

Despite the season-ending loss, Harvard had a postseason to be proud of, having run the table in the ECAC tournament and given Maine all it could handle.