“I don’t usually like that,” Marsh admitted, “but it’s desperation time.”

Trailing 3-1 in the game and 1-0 in the best-of-three quarterfinal playoff series, Marsh knew he had to take his chances.

“What we were looking for,” he said simply, “was maybe to get some zone-time with six skaters.”

But 3:35 is more than “some” time—it’s an eternity, both to defend an empty net and to maintain a lead while skating against a man-advantage..

When asked what he was thinking at that point, Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 joked, “I was really thinking, ‘it would be nice if we could get an empty-net goal.’”

“It was a smart move,” he added seriously, “and they were getting some good chances.”

At 18:54, Max Taylor sent the puck past Harvard’s sprawling Dov Grumet-Morris, bringing the contest to 3-2.

“When they scored that first goal,” Donato said, “it really got their bench going.”

The Crimson defense held on for the one-goal win, though not before the Saints saw several good, late looks.

“At that point in time,” Grumet-Morris said, “you try to keep everything simple and continue to work off the things that you’ve been practicing throughout the week.”

MAN DOWN

The Crimson took six penalties for 15 minutes Saturday night, beginning with a five charging major assessed to freshman Dave Watters 9:09 into the first period.

“We seemed to put ourselves behind the eight-ball enough times tonight with the five-minute major and a number of other penalties,” Donato admitted.

But Harvard penalty kill actually looked to have the better of the scoring chances during its five man-down minutes, including a Taylor shot that hit a post and a Steve Mandes shorthanded attempt that was broken up by a diving McKenna.

“Killing off a five-minute major really gives you a little momentum, and it was really big for us” said freshman Tyler Magura, a penalty-kill fixture.