The Harvard men’s hockey team (9-14-6, 9-7-6 ECAC, 3-4-3 Ivy) royally out-skated Princeton (20-7-0, 14-6-0 ECAC, 5-3-0 Ivy) Saturday night, defeating the Tigers, 3-2, in front of a sellout home crowd on Senior Night. It marked the eighth-straight senior-night win for the Crimson.

“It means a lot in front of your home fans and [its] your last regular season home game [so] it is important to end on a good note,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said.

Beating the No. 6 team in the country was no small feat for Harvard, who was also able to secure the fifth seed in the Bank of America ECAC Championship next weekend with the win. It was also a chance for the Crimson to redeem itself after last year’s 4-1 heartbreaking loss against the Tigers in the championship final.

“It’s a huge win,” co-captain Brian McCafferty said. “They’re the second best team in the league and they were the best team last year, so to be able to beat them before we go into the playoffs is a real good boost for us. It’ll be a confidence booster for us coming up to next week, and, if we see them again in the playoffs, it’s confidence for us to try to beat them again.”

PLENTY OF PENALTIES

The first period saw a lot of careless action, with players flying in and out of the penalty box. Harvard collected eight penalty minutes compared to Princeton’s six.

With both teams fighting in the last regular season game, their aggressive efforts were likely the reason for the high penalty count.

“We took a couple penalties that really weren’t necessary—you know it wasn’t to save a goal or against a tough scoring chance,” Donato said.

But in the second and third periods the Crimson cleaned up their act, and for the better, since the game-winning goal was scored by Matt McCollem on a power play.

“I thought we did a better job with our discipline as the game went on and I think that special teams were the difference tonight.”

ROGERS RULES

Junior Doug Rogers has had stellar performances in recent games. Just last weekend he earned two points against No. 20 St. Lawrence, and he scored the first goal in Saturday night’s game on a power play, launching Harvard to victory.

“[Rogers] has been excellent for us,” Donato said. “I think he has really carried the load offensively and he has been a great face-off guy for us and his play goes hand-in-hand with the team’s recent uptake in performance. Dougie is a big part of our team, and so when he plays well, we obviously play better.”

Receiving the recognition as “first star” against Princeton, Rogers was impressive in making critical game-changing moves, such as winning 13 of Harvard’s 27 successful face-offs.

His surge of success can be attributed to the fact that Rogers keeps his eye on the prize, especially in practice.

“I’ve stuck with the things I’ve always worked on improving,” said Rogers. “I’m trying to shoot more, find the open guy more. We’ve been working a lot on our power play, and it’s obvious that that’s been successful for us in the last five or six games. Our team’s playing better now, and it makes it easier for everyone out there.”

COOL CARROLL

Carroll made an immense contribution to the win against Princeton, making 38 saves compared to Tiger goalkeeper Zane Kalemba’s 27. Princeton laid down the pressure, out-shooting Harvard by 10 points, and Carroll responded with great defensive skill.

“Ryan has played very well, and I think he has given us some great performances here, and I think we are very excited about the way he is playing,” Donato said.

Even appearing against Kalemba, who leads the nation in goals against average at 1.58 and ranks second in the nation in save percentage at .939, Carroll seemed to be the stronger netminder of the two.

This wasn’t the first time that Harvard relied on Carroll when faced with a ranked opponent and top goalie.

In the Crimson’s Feb. 14th game against Cornell, Carroll faced off against Ben Scrivens, who at that time led the nation in goals against average and save percentage.

Carroll’s strong play not only contributed to Saturday night’s game but will also be crucial to the results of competition in the upcoming ECAC tournament.