“Based on the last two games against Princeton, I thought we’ve been playing the best hockey that we have all year,” Richter said. “This weekend was a true product of what we can do as a team.”

Richter has been in this spot before. In 2008, he took on Cornell in the ECAC semifinals in Albany and was outstanding, making 31 saves in a 3-1 Crimson victory.

In the hostile environment at Lynah Rink, the goalie will have to be as focused and confident as he was then if he is going to lead his team to a series win.

“I think he just has to play as strong as he did last weekend,” Biega said. “We’re going to try to play as well as we can defensively, and not give them many shots at his face. He just has to make the first save, and we’ll try to keep the puck away from him.”

That is exactly what happened against Princeton, when Richter forgot his regular season struggles and played like a reborn goalie.

“We didn’t approach [the series] any differently than we did during the regular season,” he said. “We saw it as a second opportunity to show how we can play as a team.”

Harvard now has a third opportunity to prove its doubters wrong, and his teammates believe that with Richter in net, anything is possible. Because when the goalie brings his A-game, his teammates are able to step it up as well.

“He’s really started to peak and has been phenomenal for us the last few weekends,” Greiner said. “He makes everybody a better player.”