“Aikins gave me a great pass just in front of Morris,” Winnik said. “And I just happened to put it through his five-hole.”
As was the case a year ago, Harvard had—prior to the third period—dictated largely dictated the pace of play throughout, limiting the Wildcats’ forwards primarily to the perimeter and smothering those few rebounds that happened to slip away from Grumet-Morris while converting its own grade-A chances at the other end.
Skating 4-on-4 midway through the opening period, Du threaded a leading pass to Maki through the neutral zone that allowed him to slip behind two UNH defenders and skate in on Wildcats netminder Kevin Regan. As he was hauled down from behind, Maki wound up for a booming wrist shot, which he managed to fling into the top left corner of the net just before crashing to the ice at 9:26, staking the Crimson to a 1-0 lead.
It would take the better part of 20 minutes for UNH to respond thanks to Harvard’s efficient even-strength defense. With Welch in the penalty box for interference—the Crimson was whistled for eight minors, which resulted in seven Wildcats power plays and two man-advantage goals—UNH defenseman Tyson Teplitsky touched a cross-slot feed to his left and Collins, who one-timed the pass inside the left post to knot the score at one at 7:35 of the middle frame.
But freshman Alex Meintel wasted no time answering back for the Crimson, poking home the go-ahead tally just eight seconds later, one tick short of an NCAA tournament record. Though Harvard lost the faceoff following Collins’ score, rookie Tyler Magura quickly regained possession for the Crimson and tested Regan from the point. Though he recorded the initial save, Regan left the rebound on the doorstep for Meintel, who flipped his no-angle second effort across the crease and into the top corner of the cage on the far side to restore Harvard’s one-goal lead.
“Just to come into this game on the big rink and try to utilize my speed was a lot of fun,” said Meintel of his first collegiate goal and 10th career start. “Just to get the opportunity to play—and fortunately I got a good break there to put one in.”
The tally immediately derailed UNH’s comeback push and allowed the Crimson to reestablish its preferred tempo after losing control of play on the Wildcats’ previous 5-on-4. And though Harvard could not further add to the lead, the Crimson certainly seemed to be solidifying its advantage in the way of momentum, repeatedly frustrating the UNH offense with solid goaltending from Grumet-Morris—who recorded 43 saves on the evening to Regan’s 39—and a multitude of textbook blocked shots that thwarted otherwise golden opportunities, most notably the Wildcats’ 1:08 5-on-3 at the close of the second period, which netted a grand total of zero shots on target.
But whatever edge the Crimson had held at the end of the second was gone with the expiration of a Harvard power play 90 seconds into the third. Callander knotted the score two minutes later, and history, as it so often seems to do to the Crimson in the NCAA tournament—though with a slight variation on theme—repeated itself once more.
“Each year, you’ve got a chance to write a new script,” Donato. “Obviously we’d like to write a little bit more of a happy ending for ourselves. But you know what? These guys have played in four consecutive NCAA tournaments. They’ve played in four consecutive ECAC championships…So I don’t think these guys have to hang their [heads] at all.”
—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.