POTSDAM, N.Y.—For eight seasons, the frigid North Country has been a frozen hell for the Harvard men’s hockey team.

Not anymore.

Harvard swept the North Country road trip for the first time since Jan. 1993, routing St. Lawrence and holding off Clarkson last weekend. The two wins move the Crimson (4-1, 4-1 ECAC) into a tie for first in the league with Brown.

“They’re the best team in the league—maybe overall—but certainly the best team in the league with the puck,” said St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh.

Harvard’s sweep sets up a huge matchup Friday night on the road against ECAC favorite Cornell. The fish-toting Lynah faifthful will be out for revenge after Harvard beat the No. 6 Big Red two out of three teams last season, including last year’s 4-3 double-overtime thriller in the ECAC championship game.

Harvard 2, Clarkson 1

Any team can win when its offense is clicking. Saturday night, Harvard showed that it can win ugly as well.

The Crimson overcame a stingy Golden Knight defense to edge Clarkson, combining two opportunistic scores with outstanding goaltending by sophomore Dov Grumet-Morris.

“This league is controlled by the goaltenders, and theirs played really well,” said Clarkson interim coach Fred Parker.

Harvard handed Clarkson its first defeat under Parker, a former assistant for the Golden Knights who had been 2-0-1 since taking the reigns from former coach Mark Morris. Morris was fired Friday after hitting one of his own players in practice on Nov. 2. [See story, Page B-3.]

Clarkson had most of the game’s best scoring chances but the Golden Knights could not solve Grumet-Morris, who made several clutch saves to preserve the victory.

Playing his best games of the year, Grumet-Morris allowed just two goals, finishing the weekend with 64 saves and a spectacular .970 save percentage.

“Dov made some big saves for us,” Mazzoleni said. “At times they got the upper hand, and he was able to make the big saves and calm our team down.”

After scoring 15 goals in its previous three games, the Harvard offense met its match in Clarkson’s well-organized defense. The Golden Knights kept a third skater in a defensive position, forcing Harvard out of its up-tempo game.

“They’re as good a defensive corps as we’ve played,” Mazzoleni said. “They don’t allow you a lot of room in the neutral zone, so it’s more of a dump-and-chase game against that team. If you try and beat them, all you’re going to do is play into their game. They’ll counterattack and throw it down your throat.”