Crimson finish off Bulldogs

Yale won the regular-season series with Harvard. But the Crimson won the ECACHL playoff series over the Bulldogs, a 2-1 victory last night clinching advancement to a second-round date at Clarkson or Dartmouth.

"Yale gave us everything we could handle," Harvard coach Ted Donato said. "We battled all the way and then in the last 10 minutes we didn't give them a lot of time in our zone. This was an emotional series but next week will be a new challenge, going on the road and playing in an environment which will be very different."

Harvard's power play, which produced four goals in a 5-2 win Friday, was blanked this time. But the Crimson capitalized on their speed, Steve Rolecek providing the deciding score at 17:15 of the second period.

"We knew it would be a tough game," said Rolecek, who scored for the first time since converting in a 5-2 loss to Clarkson Nov. 3, "and we would need to play well five on five. They took a lot of penalties [Friday] and we knew they would be more disciplined and we would have to grind it out."

Harvard (14-15-2), which lost to Yale by scores of 5-1 and 5-2 during the regular season, failed to convert on two power plays in the first 9:41, and on six for the game.

The Bulldogs (11-17-3) capitalized soon after killing a penalty, Brad Mills scoring a power-play goal at 12:34 of the first period for a 1-0 lead . But Jimmy Fraser tied the score off a faceoff at 18:43, and Rolecek took a pass from Chad Morin at the blue line, went around a defenseman, and slipped a shot past Matt Modelski for the deciding score.

"We had great opportunities [on the power play]," Donato said. "Four or five times we were all alone with their goalie and he made big saves. This time of year there is the prospect of win or go home and things get very emotional, very physical. In both locker rooms there are six or seven guys limping or carrying ice bags."

Harvard goalie Justin Tobe held up well but did require a mask change after saving a Tom Dignard shot in the second period.

"There were a couple of shots in the head that were interesting," Tobe said. "It dented the buckle and if I didn't get it fixed it might have gone flying off.

"It was a situation of trying to weather the storm. Their season was on the line and they were giving it everything they had. We were playing playoff hockey last week [4-1 win over Colgate, 3-1 win over Cornell] and that was good preparation. It definitely gets a little quicker, everyone plays a little harder now.

"It will be tougher going on the road. Whatever it is, we are prepared for it, and whoever we play will be a very good team."

Yale played both games without leading scorers Mark Arcobello and Sean Backman.

"I didn't like the result but you saw a little better characterization of our team and I am proud of them," Yale coach Keith Allain said. "We made some adjustments and limited their chances on the power play. If they get a goal on the power play and it's 3-1, things are a lot different. But it was 2-1 and we pulled the goalie, anything can happen."

Yale pulled goalie Modelski for the final 1:12, but Harvard dominated the third period.

Harvard is now 22-3 in ECACHL tournament games.

"Clarkson and Dartmouth both pose great challenges," Donato said. "They are both the biggest, strongest, and most talented teams in the league. We just need to worry about our game and we will be successful."

Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at f_dellapa@globe.com.