Building off the momentum provided by the sophomore’s spark, the Harvard offense scored eight times in Game 3 to make things easier on the goalie, who nonetheless made 39 saves in the Crimson’s series-clinching 8-2 win. The Harvard offense continued to feed off of Girard’s energy in the semifinal, as the netminder denied 18 of 19 Cornell attempts in the Crimson’s 6-1 upset of the No. 13 Big Red.

“You need a goalie that can make saves under pressure,” Donato says. “He made some huge saves. His confidence, his ability to play the puck out of the net, those were all key aspects of the success we were able to have down the stretch.”

All of a sudden, the sophomore who had started the year as a backup had become a star.

“There were a lot of guys that were very happy for him,” Donato says. “He’s a great character in the locker room; he’s liked and respected by his teammates; and he definitely has a little bit of flash and confidence to his game that were a big boost of confidence to the team itself.”

Girard’s stunning run finally came to an end in the ECAC championship game. The goalie was brilliant through two periods, saving all 27 shots he faced from then-No. 6 Union to equal his Dutchman counterpart Troy Grosenick—who would be named a first-team All-American after the season—even though Grosenick only needed to make 10 saves over the same span.

In the third period, Union—a future Frozen Four participant—finally got to Girard, registering two goals to put an end to the Crimson’s season with a 3-1 win (the final score was an empty-netter).

“I really love our seniors,” Girard says. “[In the playoffs] I knew every game could be my last game with them, so I just wanted to [extend their careers] as much as I could. I wish we had made it to the NCAAs just for them, because they deserved it.”

Though it fell just short of its first tournament bid in six years, the Crimson had finally found an answer between the pipes in Girard, who finished 6-3-1 over his final 10 appearances and whose postseason save percentage of .947 was the best in the country.

“We definitely had a good end to the season,” Girard says. “I wish I could’ve played like that the whole year, but we’ve all got our ups and downs.”

But following his breakout performance, from now on, it would appear that Raphael Girard’s career is exclusively on the way up.

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.