Madsen comes up big
Moy nets a pair as Crimson gain final
PROVIDENCE — Harvard used a pair of goals from senior Tyler Moy, his 19th and 20th of the season, and junior Merrick Madsen posted a career-high 41 saves to earn his fourth shutout of the year as Harvard blanked Providence, 3-0, at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center yesterday in the NCAA East Regional semifinals.
The win advanced Harvard (27-5-2) into the final today against Air Force, which beat Western Michigan, 5-4.
“The first 10 minutes they were taking the game to us and at a pace that we were not accustomed to,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato, who posted his first NCAA victory behind the bench. “Give Merrick credit. They kept coming. I thought Merrick was excellent early and gave us an early chance not to have to chase the game.”
Harvard, now riding a 17-game (16-0-1) unbeaten streak, came out slow and Providence (22-12-5) displayed more jump despite not having played in almost two weeks. The Friars stormed Madsen, who had 17 saves in the first period, and received a big help from freshman defenseman John Marino, who made a crucial block on a rebound.
“They had that first big flurry in the first period and that got me into the game easier, rather than if I didn’t have any shots,” Madsen said. “After that, as a team, we sort of re-calibrated and came back and took it to them.”
Friars fans were whooping it up at 16:26 of the first when sophomore Erik Foley burst into the Crimson end and fired a 25-footer into the net. But the goal was negated by an offside.
“Referees are human,” said Friars coach Nate Leaman. “We’re all human. To win a national championship you have to get some bounces and I thought Harvard got one there. We just had to keep going. Important? Yeah. It would have been nice to play with a lead but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Harvard began the second period holding a manadvantage. During the power play, senior co-captain Alexander Kerfoot fired a glancing shot off the shoulder of PC goalie Hayden Hawkey (26 saves). The Friars couldn’t clear and Moy snapped a bad-angle wrist shot inside the near post at 1:09.
“I actually didn’t see very much of the net when the puck came across the ice,” Moy said. “I felt maybe the (Providence) players weren’t set and I just tried to put the puck on the net and I got lucky there.”
Harvard co-captain Devin Tringale of Medford picked up a minor penalty but PC couldn’t work the puck past Madsen.
The Crimson then grabbed insurance at 17:46 of the second. Sophomore Ryan Donato snuck behind the defense and was stopped by Hawkey. The puck came out to ace freshman defenseman Adam Fox, who connected for his sixth goal. Harvard is now 22-0-0 when it leads after two periods.
“In general, we try to take over the third period and we talk about playing on our toes and not our heels,” coach Donato said.
And in defeat, the Friars gave it their best.
“It’s tough to be disappointed with the way we played tonight. I thought we played great,” Leaman said. “We got chances. We executed the game plan. I thought we carried stretches of the game. The puck just didn’t go in for us.”
The Friars lifted Hawkey with 2:35 and Moy hit the empty net at 18:09.