Mazzoleni attributes his team’s success against Dartmouth to extra motivation on his players when playing the Big Green. It’s a phenomenon he can’t fully explain, since he says the coaching staff prepares the team the same no matter the opponent.
“I don’t know…I think it’s because we have a lot of respect for them, and we realize that if we don’t play our best game, they’re capable of beating us,” Mazzoleni said. “Maybe it catches the attention of the kids a little better.”
Harvard’s respect for the Big Green is certainly justified. Dartmouth owns victories over Cornell and then-No. 1 Boston College and features one of the most dangerous lines in the country in sophomore Lee Stempniak and freshmen Mike Ouelette and Hugh Jessiman—the ECAC rookie of the year.
Dartmouth’s top line is so dangerous because the team tends to group its best players together. That line features the Big Green’s three highest-scorers, and the team’s best defensemen—seniors Trevor Byrne and Pete Summerfelt play together and log a huge chunk of ice time. It’s a tendency junior Tim Pettit says the Crimson can exploit.
“We need to spread out the offensive zone,” Pettit said. “If we can go out there and have them chase us around, then they’ll get tired and we can force them into mistakes.”
With matchup advantages over Dartmouth, Harvard’s biggest challenge might be channeling its own emotions. Harvard has struggled somewhat in critical games this season, finishing 0-5-1 against ranked foes. In particular, the Crimson hopes to avoid a recurrence of last month’s loss to Cornell, when it came out too emotionally high and gave up three first-period goals.
“I talked about it Monday with the players, but it’s got to come from them,” Mazzoleni said. “You have to always be in that mean range where you have the competitive instincts and focus and the juices aren’t flowing too hard.”
Harvard hopes to capitalize on its experience from last season’s playoff run. The Crimson entered the semifinals last year still recovering from a February slump, still unsure of its abilities. This year Harvard has lost just twice since the exam break and comes into Albany with the added confidence of past postseason success. Dartmouth, on the other hand, has not won a game in the ECAC Championships since 1980.
“We know exactly what we need to do to win,” Pettit said. “We don’t panic, and we have a lot of experienced guys that have been there before. We’re going in with a lot of desperation, and we’re going to be able to win some big games.”
The Crimson will welcome the return of junior Brendan Bernakevitch, out for a month with a hip flexor. Bernakevitch will add a physical presence to the line of Pettit and sophomore Tom Cavanagh. Mazzoleni said junior Tyler Kolarik, last year’s playoff hero, has a “50-50 chance” of playing this weekend after suffering a shoulder injury against Vermont.
—Staff writer Elijah M. Alper can be reached at alper@fas.harvard.edu.