CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Men's Hockey, the No. 8 seed in the ECAC Hockey Tournament, is set to open its quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 seed Cornell on Friday (Mar. 15) at Lynah Rink.
The No. 15 team in the country, Cornell earned a bye in the first round of the ECAC playoffs. Games 1 and 2 will start at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+ while if necessary game 3 will be played at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Harvard last met Cornell in postseason play last year, with the Crimson prevailing, 1-0, in overtime in the ECAC Hockey semifinal.
- Mitchell Gibson came up with a 15-save shutout while Alex Laferriere scored the overtime winner to send the Crimson to the ECAC finals for the second straight year.
- Harvard and Cornell last met in a best-of-three series in a 2011 ECACH Quarterfinal (Cornell won, 2-0).
- The Crimson and the Big Red split the season series, 1-1, with each team winning while away.
- After wrapping up the season series, Harvard sat with a 3-7-3 record while Cornell had a 6-4-1 record. The Crimson finished the season in eighth at 6-10-6 while Cornell improved to second place at 12-6-4.
- This is just the sixth time in tournament history that the Crimson will face Cornell in the quarterfinals. They've seen each other in postseason play just twice in the last 10 years.
- Joe Miller, Philip Tresca, Alex Gaffney, Ryan Healey, Cam Johnson, and Ben MacDonald all had at least one point against the Big Red this season.
- The Crimson clinched a spot in the quarterfinals after a 1-0 win over Princeton at Bright-Landry Hockey Center last Friday.
- Ian Moore scored the lone, game-winning goal just after a faceoff draw and was assisted by Jack Bar and Salvatore Guzzo.
- Aku Koskenvuo was stellar in the net, making 38 saves to grab his second career shutout and first career playoff win.
- Joe Miller and Ryan Healey earned honors this week as Miller cracked the ECAC third and the pair both had a spot on the All-Ivy First-Team.
UP NEXT
With a series win, the Crimson would move on to the ECAC semifinals and play Quinnipiac, RPI, Colgate, St. Lawrence, Union or Dartmouth at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.
