CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In the decisive game of an ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal series against Rensselaer (18-23-3), junior goaltender Mitchell Gibson (28 saves) backstopped Harvard men's ice hockey (19-10-3) to a 3-1 win over the Engineers on Sunday afternoon at Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
 
With the win, the Crimson clinched its sixth straight trip to Lake Placid and the ECAC Hockey Semifinals.
 
Junior forward John Farinacci and senior captain Casey Dornbach helped Harvard jump out to a two-goal lead after two periods.
 
RPI added a power play goal with goaltender Jack Watson (30 saves) out of the net for a 6-on-4, as Ottoville Leppanen scored with 3:31 remaining in the third period to make it 2-1.
 
But first-year forward Matthew Coronato scored an empty net goal with 32 seconds left to seal the win for the Crimson.
 
Gibson was fantastic in the early going for Harvard, stopping several grade A chances for the visiting Engineers in the opening 10 minutes. Then Farinacci struck with a great individual effort to put Harvard ahead.
 
Farinacci beat his man off the left half-wall, skated towards the net and fired a shot over the shoulder of Watson into the top corner to make it 1-0 at 14:13 of the 1^st period.
 
Early on in the second period, with Harvard keeping the puck in the RPI zone after a Crimson power play expired, junior defenseman Henry Thrun skated behind the net and found Dornbach alone in front. Dornbach fired a quick shot past Watson at 1:05 to give Harvard a 2-0 lead.
 
Gibson and the Harvard defense helped keep RPI off the board the rest of the way until the late minutes of the contest, when the Crimson was able to salt the game away with a one-goal lead.
 
Harvard Highlights

• Junior forward John Farinacci (goal) recorded goals in two straight games and led all Harvard scorers with four points (two goals, two assists) in the series, along with Matthew Coronato (two goals, two assists)
• Junior forward Nick Abruzzese (assist) has points in six straight contests (two goals, five assists in that span).
• Junior goaltender Mitchell Gibson (28 saves), allowed just one goal, his 11^th start this season allowing one goal or less.

Game Notes

• Harvard advanced to the ECAC Hockey semifinal round for the sixth straight year (skipping seasons/playoffs lost to COVID-19), a run that began in 2015.
• Harvard has now won eight straight ECAC Hockey best-of-three playoff series.
• Harvard outshot RPI 33-29 for the night.