By David F. Pendrys (Eyewitness account verified against official box score.)

NEW HAVEN, CT- In a downright crazy game that went nearly 2 entire overtimes the Harvard Crimson edged the Yale Bulldogs 3-2 to win the ECAC tournament series 2 to 1 and earn a berth in Lake Placid. Goaltenders Steve Michalek of Harvard and Alex Lyon of Yale were both stellar in the effort. Lyon made 39 saves on 42 shots, and Michalek 40 saves on 42 shots.

Harvard’s Tyler Moy opened the scoring at 10:01 when he shot it from nearly the left side of the net and somehow got I past Lyon at the odd angle. Brian Hart and Jake Horton earned the assists on that effort. Yale would respond 21 seconds later as Cody Learned shot it at point blank range, and after a few seconds of confusion the puck was in the net. Carson Cooper and Frankie DiChiara were awarded the assists.

Penalties didn’t matter much that in regulation, except when Moy went into the box for interference at 11:00 of period 2. DiChiara scored at 11:58 assisted by Nate Repensky and Cooper for a 2-1 lead. Neither team would score for the rest of the period and going deep into period 3. With Yale on the verge of victory, Patrick McNally sent it through Lyons at 16:26. Assists went to Colin Blackwell and Desmond Bergin on the goal that would eventually force overtime.

The first overtime would be a back and forth affair with each team getting changes and each goaltender standing fast. However at 14:55 Yale’s Matt Killian hit a Harvard player from behind, and earned a major and a game misconduct. Yale now had to kill a 5 minute penalty for basically the rest of the period and backed by Lyon they did just that. This included a fantastic diving save during a Harvard attack. Yale kept clearing the puck, Lyon kept the Crimson stymied and the penalty ended as the period did.

The 2^nd overtime was also a back and forth contest. Harvard killed 2 penalties, and Yale killed 1, but as time ticked down a face-off set in the Yale end. The puck was dropped, and within seconds it was in Jimmy Vesey’s hands, he had a clear shot and took it, getting it past Lyon to end it quickly.