Freshman Jon Pelle notched a goal and an assist against the United States Under-18 Team in an exhibition on Saturday night.

After fighting to 2-2 stalemates in an exhibition against the University of Windsor and Friday’s season opener with Brown, Harvard had seen enough missed passes and off-the-post shots to frustrate even the most patient skaters. And so, as the Crimson (0-0-1, 0-0-1 ECAC) took the ice in Saturday night’s exhibition against the U.S. National Under-18 team, all hopes rested on an offensive breakthrough.

In the first minutes of Saturday’s game in the Bright Hockey Center, the prospect of another tie was not altogether unreasonable.

The U.S. Under-18 team struck first, just 5:02 into the game, when Peter Mueller—a sixteen year-old listed at 6’2 and 200 pounds—beat Crimson goaltender Justin Tobe from just outside the crease.

The early play proved physical, offering no shortage of booming checks and peripheral skirmishes, and the U.S. Under-18 showed no signs of backing down from the older, more experienced Harvard skaters.

Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 described the contest as “a tough game to try to get a good focus, because it is an exhibition game, and you’re supposed to win.

“We kind of let them [dictate] play to us,” he said. “I’d say more physically than anything else.”

Harvard took a 2-1 advantage 1:53 into the second frame with a tally by freshman Jon Pelle, but the U.S. Under-18 team knotted the score less than two minutes later.

And then the Crimson bore down.

“As soon as we started putting some bodies on some people, we saw how it helped us,” explained Pelle. “We were able to generate a lot offensively from just throwing the body down low and putting a lot of pressure on them.”

Indeed, Harvard scored the next three goals, and with just 2:30 remaining in the final period, the team held a comfortable 6-3 advantage. A late tally brought the U.S. Under-18 team to within two and gave Mueller his third point on the night. But with just 22 seconds remaining on the night, freshman Dave Watters capped the 7-4 win with an empty-netter from near the left point.

“Anytime you put up that many goals it’s nice,” Watters said. “It gives you confidence.”

FAMILIAR FOE

The red and blue jerseys the Under-18 squad sported on Saturday were in no way foreign to many of the Crimson skaters. Assistant captain Ryan Lannon and classmate Rob Flynn honed their skills under the guidance of the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich., as did sophomores Steve Mandes and Ryan Maki and recent graduates Kenny Smith ’04 and Dennis Packard ’04.

“I’ve seen a couple of the staff members,” admitted Lannon—who spent a year with the program—with a grin. “One of the academic liaisons—we were reminiscing about my academics.

“It’s a very exciting game,” he added. “They’re playing physical, and if they can help us get more prepared for going into Cornell next weekend, which is going to be a dogfight, then you can’t ask for too much more than that.”