With one period to play in the first round of the 2004 NCAA tournament, the Harvard men’s hockey team had, at long last, arrived.
A year’s worth of unfulfilled expectations had given way to an effortlessly brilliant postseason run, one which, it then seemed, not even No. 1 Maine was capable of stopping. Notching four goals in just 40 minutes, the Crimson had swept aside the nation’s top goaltender—Jimmy Howard, who had started the day with a 1.05 goals-against average—and staked itself to what appeared to be an insurmountable three-goal lead.
Albany’s Pepsi Arena, overwhelmingly populated by fans of the Black Bears, stood eerily silent, save the intermittent cheers resonating from the dozens-strong Harvard section. On the radio and in the press box, a Crimson victory was a forgone conclusion, the program’s first trip to the Frozen Four since 1993—still at least four periods away—all but assured.
But 3:55 into the final frame, freshman forward Mike Hamilton slipped a wrist shot past Harvard netminder Dov Grumet-Morris, pulling Maine within two. The Collapse had begun.
A pair of Crimson penalties in quick succession shortly thereafter handed the Black Bears a 35-second 5-on-3 power play with 14:28 to play. As the first infraction expired, Maine’s Prestin Ryan scooped up a rebound in the slot and whipped it past Grumet-Morris, slashing the Harvard lead to just one.
“When it was 4-2, it was fine,” former Crimson coach Mark Mazzoleni said afterwards. “When it was 4-3, they really started to come at us...And we didn’t have an answer.”
With the Black Bears scrambling to knot the score, Harvard was forced into a defensive posture, desperately hoping to stave off its rejuvenated opponent until the final buzzer.
But, as the Crimson unfortunately learned, the equalizer and, eventually, the game-winner were both just moments away.
With 7:13 remaining, Michel Léveillé, perched atop the left circle, sent the puck careening through the congestion in front of Grumet-Morris, receiving at least one fortuitous redirection off a skate that guided the shot past the blinded netminder to tie the game at four.
Just over three minutes later, a misplayed puck squirted free to Greg Moore, positioned at the same spot. Grumet-Morris, his sight again obscured by the traffic in front, stood little chance of stopping the slapshot, which rippled the net low and to his left, completing the improbable comeback with 4:10 still showing on the clock.
“I don’t know if we really changed anything,” Grumet-Morris said yesterday. “I think they felt the urgency in their game, especially with the fact that their season was coming down to one period, and they were able to put together a consecutive streak of basically 15 minutes where it was relentless attack.”
Suddenly faced with the prospect of its third first-round exit from the tournament in as many years, Harvard frantically sought to reestablish the offensive rhythm that had triggered Howard’s demise. But the Black Bears would have none of it, bouncing the Crimson from the post-season for the second time since 2002.
“I don’t think,” then-captain Kenny Smith ’04 said, “anything you say puts the right words to the feelings we have right now.”
Verbalizing that disappointment hasn’t gotten much easier with the passing of time. But it’s safe to say that the inglorious end endured a season ago has fueled Harvard’s much of this year’s early success.
“It’s real easy this year considering how last season ended,” captain Noah Welch said in October. “All the guys are kinda—it didn’t settle well how our seasons ended.”
Defeating No. 11 Maine (10-6-2, 6-3-1 Hockey East) tomorrow evening probably won’t make the past any easier to swallow. Still, it’s a step.
“The motivation,” Grumet-Morris said, “I think speaks for itself.”
—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.
