LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Two goals from Jimmy Vesey and 30 saves from Steve Michalek propelled the Harvard Crimson to a 4-2 win over the Colgate Raiders on Saturday and their ninth ECAC Hockey tournament championship.
It’s the Crimson’s first Whitelaw Cup since 2006.
[scg_html_ecac2015]Vesey, the tournament’s most outstanding player, scored in the first and second periods for the Crimson, who are in the NCAA tournament for the first time since that 2006 playoff title.
Vesey began the scoring for the Crimson at the 12:22 mark of the first period. After Alexander Kerfoot won a foot race with Ryan Johnston to erase icing, the ensuing offensive chance for Harvard left a loose puck in Charlie Finn’s crease.
Kyle Criscuolo was able to dig the puck out and feed Vesey, who was left open on the right side of the net. Vesey made no mistake in burying his 30th goal of the season.
Although he was credited with the goal, Vesey cited the effort of his linemates, Kerfoot and Criscuolo, for his success.
“If you look at my goals this weekend, a lot of them come from the work of my linemates, Alex and Kyle,” Vesey said. “They’re great players, hard-working players and they are really easy to play with.”
Darcy Murphy’s 11th goal of the season for Colgate tied the game less than three minutes later. Murphy flipped the puck up in the air and batted it past Steve Michalek at the 15:19 mark of the first period, leaving the score tied at 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Colgate coach Don Vaughan praised his Murphy for his play all year, but specifically this tournament. “He’s got a great shot and was all over the puck tonight,” Vaughan said. “I thought for sure he was the runner-up for most outstanding player.”
Vesey gave the Crimson a 2-1 lead 1:30 into the second period. Kerfoot found Vesey in the slot, and the Hobey Baker Award finalist performed a few stick-handling moves before slipping the puck past Finn to give Harvard the lead.
Seven minutes later, Patrick McNally’s wrist shot from the right faceoff circle on the power play gave the Crimson a 3-1 lead that they carried into the second intermission.
With 20 minutes remaining in their season, the Raiders made a strong push to score. John Lidgett banked a puck past Michalek to narrow the lead to just one goal with 9:43 remaining in the third period.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000FnfvHzM3WQc” g_name=”20150321-Harvard-Colgate-Eisenberg” f_show_caption=”t” f_show_slidenum=”t” img_title=”casc” pho_credit=”iptc” f_link=”t” f_bbar=”t” fsvis=”f” width=”500″ height=”375″ bgcolor=”#AAAAAA” bgtrans=”t” btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” crop=”f” trans=”xfade” tbs=”4000″ f_ap=”t” linkdest=”c” f_fullscreen=”f” f_constrain=”f” twoup=”f” f_topbar=”f” f_bbarbig=”” f_htmllinks=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”f” f_show_watermark=”f” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”f” f_up=”f” target=”_self” wmds=”llQ6QNgpeC.p1Ucz7U.f22Fbq1nIYKgSCI7NYOF6rDdS44orEnVvuwgJLknNiN_aA.6AiA–” ]Despite several good chances, including one shot off the post, the next goal to go in was an empty-net goal by Colin Blackwell, which sealed the win for Harvard.
Harvard coach Ted Donato was proud of the way his team persevered through injuries and slumps to make it to the ECAC championship.
“It certainly wasn’t easy,” he said. “But this team stuck with it, we hung around, and I’m very proud and humbled by their commitment and chemistry.”
For Colgate junior Mike Borkowski, the disappointment loomed large despite the successful season.
“Obviously, we wanted to win the championship,” Borkowski said. “It’s been since 1990 for Colgate and we wanted to be the ones to end the drought, but I’m proud of the way this team battled. I’ve never been closer with a group of guys and there were no issues in the locker room.”
Despite the disappointing end to a season that had so much promise before the start, Vaughan said the future is bright for Colgate.
“We should be breaking ground on a new rink soon, and I think, in general, this is a very exciting time to be a part of Colgate hockey,” he said.
