Division I Men :      March 27, 2004 [ The Game Story]
Pennsylvania 7 Harvard 5 Scoring: Scoring: Will Phillips David Andrzejewski Zandy Reich Alex Salihi Patrick Rogers James Riordan Patrick Gilbert Luke Dixson (2, 1) (1, 1) (1, 1) (0, 1) (0, 1) (1, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) Evan Calvert Mike Mcbride Sean Kane Anders Johnson Greg Cohen Jeff Gottschall (1, 1) (1, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) (0, 1) Saves: Saves: Ryan Kelly 10  (0.667) Jake Mckenna 11  (0.611) Current Record :     (4-3) Current Record :     (3-2) Team Page For 2004 Team Page For 2004       The Game Story: Philadelphia - Ryan Kelly made 11 saves and Will Phillips pushed his scoring streak to 25 games on two goals and a helper as Penn remained undefeated at Franklin Field after a 7-5 decision over visiting-Harvard. The Red and Blue, which won for the fourth-straight time over the Crimson, improved to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the Ivy League on the strength of its second-straight victory, while Harvard fell to 3-2 and 0-1. "We really needed an Ivy win today, especially after losing to Yale (in the Ivy opener on March 20)," senior captain Patrick Connelly said. "For us, this is the effort level if we want to win games. We have to outwork our opponents. Defensively, Ryan Kelly was the player of the game. We all appreciate what he's done for us this season. He's our captain back there." Holding a two-goal lead for most of the contest, Penn blew open the game with two extra-man goals less than a minute apart to start the fourth period. Harvard did manage to get the two scores back, but were unable to get any closer. P.J. Gilbert and D.J. Andrzejewski tallied extra-man goals at :35 and 1:25, respectively, into the fourth period to push the Red and Blue's lead to 7-3. The fourth period was marred by penalties - with 11 of the game's 15 being whistled in the final 15 minutes, including seven on Penn. After the Quakers took quick advantage of calls on Harvard's Jeff Gottschall and Alex Vap to start the fourth, Penn was whistled for four penalties on one play as Patrick Connelly received two holding fouls as well as a slashing penalty and was joined by Matt Kelleher for slashing 2:51 in. Down three men, Penn surrendered an extra-man score to Evan Calvert :16 into the advantage. After Calvert's tally, the Quakers buckled down and only allowed Harvard five shots, two of which Kelly stopped and one that slipped through by Sean Kane with 1:10 left in the contest. Penn jumped out to an early 2-0 lead 3:32 into the contest and never really looked back after that, even though Harvard did manage to close within one goal before the end of the first half. Zandy Reich opened up the game's scoring on his fourth of the season, unassisted, to give the Red and Blue a 1-0 edge just 2:08 into the game. Phillips pushed that lead to two goals after taking a pass from Patrick Rogers and scoring his 16th of the season just 1:24 later. Phillips' 17th goal of the season extended the Penn lead to 3-0 with 1:37 remaining in the opening quarter after the senior attackman deposited DJ Andrzejewski's pass into the cage. Harvard did answer however, with six seconds remaining in the first period, as Mike McBride took advantage of Joseph Shanagan's late holding penalty to get one past Kelly. Both teams traded pairs of goals in the second period as the Red and Blue regained its three-goal lead 3:31 in when Luke Dixson netted his first of the season. The Crimson answered with two-straight goals to close Penn's margin to one, 4-3, after Greg Cohen and Anders Johnson both notched unassisted scores in a span of 3:48. That would be the closest Harvard could get for the remainder of the game however, as James Riordan's 10th goal of the season off a Reich feed with just :17 remaining in the half allowed the Red and Blue to regain its two-goal lead and keep the Crimson at arm's length for the remainder of the contest. The third period seemed to be the calm before the storm, although Harvard's netminder Jake McKenna (game-high 11 saves) kept his teammates close while the Crimson trailed by two goals, making five saves on Penn as Phillips, Reich, Dixson and Mark Becker all peppered shots at the Harvard cage.

Philadelphia, PA – The Harvard Crimson traveled to Philadelphia for their Ivy League Opener. The Quakers used 2 goals and an assist from attackman Will Phillips, along with Zandy Reich and DJ Andrzejewski both adding a goal and an assist each. Will Phillips extended his scoring streak to 25 games with his three point day. For Harvard, senior Jake McKenna added 11 saves, while nearly being matched by Penn’s Ryan Kelly who had 10 saves.

The game started with Harvard controlling the ball for the better part of the first two minutes. Ryan Kelly came up with a save for Penn and shortly thereafter junior midfielder Zandy Reich opened the scoring on the day. Reich, despite his man still keeping in solid contact, was able to get a shot that while not the fastest was well placed to beat McKenna to give Penn the 1-0 lead. A minute and twenty four seconds later, Pat Rogers was leading Penn into the transition. Rogers was able to get his man to turn his back to him as he changed directions, and found Will Phillips who ripped a low-to-high shot right under the crossbar.

The Crimson managed to slow the ball down considerably on offense in order to play a very controlled game and to run through their looks. Penn’s defense was up for the challenge, however. The Crimson ran through their plays consistently all day, but Penn’s defense continuously refused to break, eventually causing Harvard to either force a long pass or take a misguided shot that Ryan Kelly easily stopped.

With a little under 2 minutes left in the first quarter, DJ Andrzejewski tried to beat the Harvard shortstick defender. He was unable to beat him despite working many angles and trying for upwards of 15 seconds. As he finally started to pull it out, the Harvard defense had seemingly lost track of Phillips, Andrzejewski found him and Phillips put the Red and Blue up 3-0. Harvard would notch their first goal with six seconds remaining in the first quarter as Evan Calvert found Mike McBride on a man-up opportunity to make the game 3-1 in favor of Penn after the 1st.

Three and a half minutes into the second period, Zandy Reich drove hard down the box-side wing causing Harvard to slide. He banged the ball to a wide-open Luke Dixson at X (who’s man had slid) who then pushed hard around the cage for Penn’s 4th goal. Harvard freshman Greg Cohen added to his team-leading point total about four minutes later. Cohen attempted to beat Penn captain Pat Connelly and in the process drew the holding call when he started to inside roll. As he came off of the inside roll, he put the ball past Kelly, giving Harvard their second goal and wiping off the penalty.

Harvard would move to within one of Penn at the 3:47 mark as senior Anders Johnson drove hard from X beating his man top-side at the tail-end of a lengthy Harvard possession. Both defenses seemed to be playing so strongly that it seemed the best place to attack was from X in the hopes of beating their man top-side.

In a nice coaching move, the Quakers called a timeout with the ball and 30 seconds remaining in the half in order to get the right personnel on the field and set up their best possible look at the net. 13 seconds later Zandy Reich fed James Riordan for Penn’s 5th goal. Ryan Kelly would help send the game into the half at 5-3 as he made a point blank save with 2 seconds remaining in the half.

Neither team was able to put a dent in the scoreboard during the third period as both teams traded long possessions. Jake McKenna came up big for Harvard in the third as he contributed 5 saves. It wouldn’t take long into the fourth before Penn would put the game out of reach. Ethan Haire won the opening faceoff of the fourth period and was able to draw an unnecessary roughness penalty 13 seconds in. On the ensuing man-up, Will Phillips found PJ Gilbert for the sophomore’s 7th goal of the season. 9 seconds after that goal, Penn again drew a penalty off of the faceoff, this time a slashing on Alex Vap. Penn again capitalized on the man advantage. At the 13:35 mark, DJ Andrzejewski took a Alex Salihi pass and put the Quakers up 7-3 after the Quakers had patiently worked the ball around waiting for the opening.

The game got a little ugly as there were numerous penalties called in the 4th quarter. Harvard freshman Greg Cohen was able to draw 4 penalties on one touch of the ball as he displayed a nice arsenal of moves. Harvard was able to take advantage of one of the man-up opportunities as Evan Calvert pulled the Crimson to within three off of a Jeff Gotschall pass with 12:23 to play. Ryan Kelly and the Penn defense continued to hold off the Harvard attack until Harvard’s Sean Kane added the Crimson’s 5th and final goal of the day.

Both teams were evenly matched with Harvard outshooting Penn 32-26, an 8-8 tie on faceoffs, 11-10 save advantage for Harvard, a slightly better clearing and extra-man percentage for Harvard. What seemed to be the difference on the day was the Quaker defense. They played tough the entire game and when they did bend Ryan Kelly was there to bail them out. There was no clear standout on defense from my perspective, but as a unit they looked very poised and Ryan Kelly seemed to be the force behind it. For Harvard, their defense played a poised game as well, not giving up many good looks. Take away the early fourth quarter penalties and this story may have been about an overtime game. Instead, Penn took advantage of the opportunities Harvard gave them and as this proved, the difference between well-disciplined solid teams is often taking advantage of the chances the other team gives you. It was enjoyable to see two senior goalies lead the way for two programs which, as far as I can tell, are on the verge of great things, as their recent recruiting classes and rumored future classes are a testament to.

Penn stays in Philadelphia to play Cornell next Saturday at Franklin Field, where the Quakers are undefeated in 2004. For the Crimson, they head home to take on Quinnippiac on Wednesday.