Kevin Du took in Friday night’s demoralizing, 3-1 loss to Colgate from the stands, and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Watching [that] game,” admitted the centerman, “it was probably the toughest thing this year—sitting out.”

Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 had jumbled his lines for the Raiders game, and, in the process, he scratched the sophomore forward.

It was the first contest Du had missed in his Harvard career—last season, he led his freshman class with a 6-4-10 line and earned the team’s George Percy Award, given “to a member of the freshman class for enthusiasm, sportsmanship, team spirit and loyalty.”

Du and five of last year’s teammates now hold the school record for most games played in a season—36.

This year has been somewhat disheartening, though.

“Tuesday or Wednesday, I had a meeting with coach,” Du said. “So far this year, I haven’t played consistently every game, and at that point, offensively, I hadn’t been playing to my full capabilities.”

And so, in a suit and tie, Du watched the Colgate squad pick apart his team.

“I just got the renewed energy, renewed hunger for the game,” he said of sitting in the stands. “Especially coming off of last night’s loss, I wanted to help out as much as possible tonight.”

And he got his chance when Donato pieced together his old lines for Saturday night’s tussle with No. 9 Cornell, reuniting Du with classmates—and roommates—Steve Mandes and Ryan Maki.

All night long, the trio’s hustle was evident, earning “numerous opportunities,” according to Donato.

And after two periods of a tense, stomach-twisting goaltender’s duel, it appeared that whichever team first cashed in one of those opportunities would take the contest.

Enter Kevin Du.

Just under five minutes into the final frame of the scoreless draw, sophomores Steve Mandes and Ryan Maki battled for the puck along the boards.

Maki took a stab that was denied by Big Red goaltender David McKee, but Du pounced on the rebound and backhanded the game-winner past McKee.