A crucial moment of Friday’s game came early, with Harvard facing almost two full minutes of a 5-on-3 Vermont power play early in the first.

Sneddon said his team generates “most” of its offense off the power play, and with Harvard already leading 1-0 on Kevin Du’s early goal, the Catamounts needed to draw even.

Instead, they put only one shot on goal, swinging momentum to the Crimson for the remainder of the game and ultimately the series.

“We didn’t gain confidence off it,” Sneddon said, “and they did.”

Kolarik scored on the power play for a 2-0 lead at 15:03 of the second.

He has 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in 14 ECAC tournament games. His team is 6-2-1 this season when he scores, 28-10-4 over his career.

“The kid’s the heart and soul of our program,” Fried said.

Freshman forward Ryan Maki—who hadn’t scored a goal in his first 25 collegiate games—notched his third in as many games on a between-the-circles snipe midway through the final period.

Mazzoleni said Maki is “getting more confident with every game.” And now, after an agonizingly inconsistent regular season, he can comfortably say that about the rest of the players on his team, as well.

No longer can they be branded as wastrels of their superior talent. This prodigal team has repented, reformed and returned.

—Staff writer Jon Paul Morosi can be reached at morosi@fas.harvard.edu.