Gritty game tonight at B-L. I say gritty in every sense of the word - from the ice being soft and chippy due to the unseasonably warm week we've been having to the physical, defensive oriented game that both teams played tonight. Not that Harvard didn't try and skate because they did and when they got their wheels moving, Clarkson was overmatched. Harvard just didn't put together a 60 minute effort tonight. They started off with a strong first period and had the Knights running around their own end. The first goal of the game came off a neutral zone turnover with Zerter Gossage and Kerfoot racing off on a two on one with Alexander finishing off a gorgeous feed from ZG right in front of Keily.
Second period saw both teams taking turns controlling the puck and pressing in each other's zone. Harvard's goal was somewhat of a fluke in that it came off a Clay Anderson shot from the point that deflected off two players before settling behind Keily. Zielonka was the closest to the net and got the final tip.
Clarkson turned it on during the third period especially after Luke Esposito outhustled and forced the Clarkson defender to cough up the puck in front of Keily leading to an easy flip over his shoulder. Thereafter the Knights controlled play and scored with 11 minutes remaining shortly after Harvard killed off a penalty.
Adam Fox did one of his patented flips from his own zone scoring into an empty net after Clarkson pulled their goalie for an extra skater. Still wondering if that is such a great idea.
Finally, a tip of the cap to the seniors in advance of Senior Night tomorrow against SLU. They have mean't so much to the program and are responsible along with Jimmy Vesey, Kyle Criscuolo, Pat McNally, Max Everson, Colin Blackwell, Steve Michalek and other for turning around the culture and attitude. We expect to win and are not comfortable with finishing second anymore. The Beanpot win sealed that emphatically. Thanks to Alexander, Sean, Tyler, Luke, Devin, Clay, Vic and Phil for making hockey meaningful in March again. Let's keep it going into April shall we??