Juniors Ryan Lannon and Brendan Bernakevitch celebrate with the Harvard men's hockey team after its 2-1 semifinal win over Dartmouth.

ALBANY, N.Y.—The last time members of the Harvard men’s hockey team sat at a post-game press conference here, they spoke in hushed tones after a one-goal third-period lead melted into a devastating overtime defeat in the 2003 ECAC championship game.

There was no such remorse on the dais Friday night. Only confidence, resolve and a hint of unfinished business after the Crimson took a one-goal lead early in the third and refused to budge in a 2-1 win ECAC semifinal win over Dartmouth.

Senior David McCulloch and junior Brendan Bernakevitch scored for Harvard (17-14-3). All-ECAC forward Lee Stempniak scored the lone goal for Dartmouth (13-10-9).

Saturday night, the Crimson will bid to become only the second No. 6 seed to win the league title against No. 9 Clarkson, a 2-1 semifinal victor over regular-season champ Colgate. The winner advances to the NCAA tournament. Game time is 8 p.m.

A school-record third straight championship game appearance looked out of the question for the Crimson a little over a month ago, with the team sitting 9-13-2 after a home collapse against Rensselaer.

Since then, Harvard is 8-1-1.

“We had our ups and downs, no question about it,” said Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni, now 15-4 in ECAC tournament play. “But this is a veteran team. They believe in themselves.”

For the second straight year, McCulloch scored his first goal of the season to give his team a 1-0 lead over Dartmouth in the ECAC semifinals.

No, really. This was a carbon-copy if there ever was one. Same goal-scorer. Same opponent. Same building. Same net. Almost the exact same spot on the ice.

It was only McCulloch’s fifth goal in 112 collegiate games. Three have come in the postseason, including one in the 2002 NCAA tournament.

“Getting the bounces,” he smiled.

Last year, his bounce came less than five minutes into the game. Friday night, he didn’t strike until midway through the second, after the teams had traded unsuccessful odd-man rushes for over 30 minutes.

Freshman winger Ryan Maki began the scoring play when, on a hard forecheck, he deflected a cross-ice pass by Dartmouth’s Eric Przepiorka. McCulloch pounced on the loose puck, crept into the left circle and ripped a shot past Dennis Packard’s screen and under the crossbar at 11:40 for the first goal of his senior season.

“I had a running bet with one of the other seniors on the team, to see who was going to score first,” McCulloch said. “Everyone was giving me a hard time about it. It’s nice to get it now.”

The Big Green countered with a supreme individual effort from Stempniak. After stripping Maki at neutral ice, he looped back to the right side, accelerated past All-American defenseman Noah Welch, cut against the grain and barely squeezed a backhander past the outstretched skate of Dov Grumet-Morris.