With the victory, keyed by Valek’s second straight two-goal performance, the Crimson took control of third place in the ECAC, guaranteeing a first-round bye.

“That third period…[was] huge for us,” Valek said after the game. “It’s been a while since Harvard finished in the top four, especially third place. That was one of our goals, to get a first round bye, and that’s what we did. We knew it was our last home game, so we just laid everything out on the line.”

Donato was proud to see Valek’s hard work pay off.

“He has been such an unselfish player for us and done a lot of things to help us win games,” Donato said. “But to see him step up and score four big goals on the weekend is exciting. I’m happy for him because he works so hard.”

Despite his clutch play over the weekend, Valek attributes his personal success to a team effort.  He knows the Crimson will need performances like his in the coming weeks in order to win the ECAC hockey title.

“It was a big weekend for the whole team,” Valek said. “I had some family in town. I don’t know if that was a motivating factor, but it definitely didn’t hurt. At different times, people need to step up for the team, and this weekend it just happened to go my way.”