CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Mick Thompson and the Crimson offense rode a four-goal second period to lift Harvard to a 5-2 win over RPI in the first round of the ECAC playoffs.
Harvard scored three second-period goals in four minutes to cruise to a win over the Engineers and advance to the quarterfinals for the ninth consecutive season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Aku Koskenvuo stood tall in the opening minutes after making multiple pad stops off the Engineers' rush in a physical start to the game. His best save of the first period came off a defensive zone turnover, leading to another big save that popped out into the slot, where Ian Moore swatted the puck out of danger.

RPI scored first on a two-on-one that was chipped behind Koskenvuo off another RPI rush, leaving the Crimson trailing by one with eight minutes left in the first.

The Crimson converted on its first power play of the game after Mick Thompson roofed a shot off the goal line to tie it at one. February's National Rookie of the Month netted his 11th goal of the season off a pass from Joe Miller in his return to the Crimson lineup.

The Crimson turned it on in the second period of a 1-1 game after the offense exploded for four goals in the middle frame. Justin Solovey opened the onslaught after a cross-crease pass from the far hash marks to give the Crimson its first lead of the night.

Twenty seconds later, Joe Miller found the back of the net in his return to the lineup to give Harvard a two-goal lead. Off a nice feed from Ben MacDonald, Miller picked up his second point of the evening as Harvard began to control the game.

Just three minutes after that, Mason Langenbrunner flipped a puck from his own end into the neutral zone, where it got caught in some RPI skates until Mick Thompson picked their pockets and deked out the Engineer netminder for his second goal of the evening.

On the power play, it was Casey Severo who found the back of the net after a deflection off an Ian Moore shot. Severo's team-leading 15th goal of the season was enough for Harvard to cruise to a victory and advance to the quarterfinals for the ninth consecutive season.

GAME NOTES

• Ted Donato is now second all-time in wins in program history.
• Mick Thompson added another three-point game after two goals and a helper. Thompson has three three-point games in his last four games.
• Joe Miller has points in his last four games played. Miller has seven points in his last four games while picking up his second three-point effort of the season.
• Ian Moore had two helpers from the blue line tonight. Moore has five points in his last three games.
• Aku Koskenvuo picks up his second ECAC First Round win after defeating RPI tonight and Princeton last season.

NEXT UP
Harvard will hit the road next weekend with an opponent yet to be determined.