Please, for your own sake, get your eyes checked if you watched the last two Cornell-Harvard games at Bright and didn’t get a sense of déjà vu Friday night.

Last February, the Big Red jumped out to a three-goal lead and watched the Crimson close to within a goal, but won on a game-winning goal resulting from a defensive breakdown.

Friday night, the Big Red jumped out to a three-goal lead and watched the Crimson close to within a goal, but won on a game-winning goal resulting from a defensive breakdown.

“Just like last year,” observed Cornell coach Mike Schafer. “A roller-coaster game.”

It was only after Cornell had staked itself to a 3-0 lead on a goal from Matt Moulson and two from Shane Hynes that Harvard got on the board. About five minutes into the second, senior sharpshooter Tim Pettit one-timed his sixth goal of the year past David McKee (24 saves) on a slick feed from Tyler Kolarik.

But a freak play gave the Big Red a 4-1 lead—and the eventual game-winning goal.

Less than a minute after Pettit’s tally, Crimson captain Kenny Smith went to play the puck in front of the Cornell bench, but in the process got his stick caught between the legs of assistant referee Chip McDonald.

Smith’s stick fell to the ice.

“I lost all sight of the puck,” he admitted. “By the time I figured out where it was, they were on a breakaway.”

With Harvard changing lines, Cornell had a 3-on-0. Grumet-Morris stopped the initial shot by Byron Bitz, but Moulson knocked the rebound off the crossbar and in.

The Big Red appeared in control then, but given the history of this rivalry—10 of the last 15 meetings have been decided by a goal or less—you knew the Crimson would come back.

And it did, beginning with Smith’s redemption on a goal from the point with 1:24 left in the second. Sophomore defenseman Tom Walsh made it 4-3 early in the third on his first goal of the season, but Moulson completed his second career hat trick at 9:02.

Cornell had kept the puck in the Harvard zone for more than a minute before Moulson’s goal, staying over the puck and not allowing the Crimson to clear.

“That’s their game,” Mazzoleni said.

Harvard 3, Colgate 1