CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – For the sixth straight completed season, No. 17 Harvard men's ice hockey (19-10-3) will make the trip to Lake Placid and the ECAC Hockey Semifinals after defeating RPI, two games to one, in a best-of-three ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal Series. The Crimson will take on No. 14/15 Clarkson (21-9-6) on Friday night (March 18, 7:30 pm) at Herb Brooks Arena for the third straight time in the semifinal round. Harvard earned the No. 3 seed in the league tournament, its highest finish since the 2016-17 regular season. No. 1 seed Quinnipiac will play No. 5 seed Colgate in the other semifinal.
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Game Notes
What to Know
• Harvard is the first program to reach six straight ECAC Hockey semifinals since the Crimson also reached six straight from 2001-06. Harvard and Clarkson last met in ECAC Hockey Tournament play in a 2019 ECAC Hockey Tournament semifinal, with the Golden Knights prevailing, 5-2, despite a late game rally that saw the Crimson close to within one after trailing 3-0. Harvard's current senior class were first-years during that tournament run.
• Harvard played host to No. 6 seed RPI in a ECAC Hockey Quartefinal series with plenty of momentum swings. Trailing 3-0 in the final minutes of Game 1, the Crimson scored three goals with an extra attacker on the ice, the final goal coming off the stick of
Matthew Coronato with 15 seconds to play to tie the game at 3-3. In overtime,
Jack Donato redirected a shot at the 2:00 mark to give Harvard the 4-3 win. RPI rallied for a double-OT 4-3 win in Game 2. But Harvard was able to close out the series with a 3-1 victory in Game 3, as junior goaltender
Mitchell Gibson made 28 saves, and
John Farinacci,
Casey Dornbach, and Coronato all tallied goals for the Crimson.
• After an uneven start to the season, Clarkson caught fire in the second half of the season, including a 9-0-2 stretch during the months of January and February. In a hard fought ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal series against Union, Clarkson won two one-goal contests, including a 4-3 (OT) win over the Dutchmen in Game 2. First Team All-ECAC Hockey forward Alex Campbell led all league skaters in scoring in league games (12-14-26). Mathieu Gosselin was also a First Team All-ECAC Hockey selection and is tops on the team with 33 poitns (11 goals, 22 assists). Clarkson is a balanced team, scoring 3.33 goals per game (10
th, NCAA) and allowing 2.22 goals per game (9th, NCAA).
• Harvard has a potent offensive attack (3.28 goals per game, 14th, NCAA) and a solid defensive corps (2.28 goals allowed per game, 12th NCAA). Harvard has allowed more than 3 goals in a game just five times all season, while scoring 4 or more goals in a game on 13 occasions this season (13-0-0).
• Clarkson won both meetings against Harvard during the regular season. In the first contest on Nov. 12 in Potsdam, Harvard held a 1-0 lead after the opening 20 minutes, but Clarkson scored four times in the second period to take control of the contest. Senior captain
Casey Dornbach scored twice in the game, but Clarkson prevailed 6-2. In the second meeting at Harvard on Jan. 22, Harvard held a 3-2 lead late in the third period, but Nick Campoli (13:26) and Mathieu Gosselin (14:48) scored two quick goals to put Clarkson in front for good in a 4-3 win for the Golden Knights.
• Sophomore
Alex Laferriere was named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year on Monday. Laferriere was tied for first among all ECAC Hockey skaters with 12 goals in league play, and led all ECAC Hockey rookies with 21 points (12 goals, nine assists). One of Harvard's most consistent scorers this year, Laferriere is tied for second on the team in scoring with 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) entering this weekend. Laferriere recorded a four-goal game in a 5-1 win over Colgate on Nov. 6, the first four-goal game by a Harvard player since Ryan Donato '19 scored four on Feb. 10, 2017.
• First-year forward
Matthew Coronato and junior forward
Nick Abruzzese have led the Harvard offense of late. Coronato is 9-6-15 in his last 14 games leading all Harvard skaters in that span, while Abruzzese has points in six straight contests (2-5-7), Harvard's longest active point streak.
• Junior defenseman
Henry Thrun, a finalist for ECACH Best Defensive Defenseman, leads all Harvard skaters with 31 points (seven goals, 24 assists). He played his best hockey down the stretch, with 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) and a plus-14 rating in his last 15 games.
At the Helm
Following success as a player, Harvard head coach Ted Donato has compiled a long list of accomplishments as head coach of the Crimson. The former Harvard captain has guided Harvard to four ECAC Hockey titles and three Ivy League championships, claimed six NCAA Tournament berths, coached 13 All-Americans and 18 National Hockey Leaguers. Donato, who won an NCAA Championship as a Harvard player in 1989 and enjoyed a 13-year NHL career, has represented Team USA at the World Junior Championships, multiple World Championships, and was the leading scorer of the 1992 Olympic Team in Albertville, France.
