ITHACA, N.Y.-Three seniors scored goals to lead to the No. 20 Harvard men's hockey team to a 3-1 win against rival Cornell in the regular-season finale at Lynah Rink, clinching a first-round playoff bye for the Crimson.

Paul Dufault's second goal of the weekend was the third-period game-winner, breaking a 1-1 tie. Mike Taylor and Tyler Magura also scored for the Crimson (14-11-4, 12-7-3 ECAC Hockey, 7-2-1 Ivy League), which clinched third place in ECAC Hockey and second in the Ivy League.

Dufault broke through at the 13:27 of the third. After an Alex Biega shot was knocked down between the circles, senior Jon Pelle and freshman Michael Biega whacked the puck toward the net. Dufault collected it at the left post and backhanded in a shot along the ice past Cornell goalie Ben Scrivens.

Harvard sophomore Kyle Richter made 22 saves, and Scrivens had 19 as the Crimson held at 23-22 shots advantage in front of a raucous crowd of 4,267 fans on Cornell's Senior Night.

The win was Harvard's third straight over the Big Red (14-12-3, 12-9-1, 5-4-1). The Crimson finished the regular season unbeaten in its last seven league games (6-0-1) and with one loss in its final nine games overall (7-1-1).

The first period lacked many scoring opportunities despite Harvard penalties affording the league's top-rated power play three chances on the man advantage. The Big Red set up well and pressured the Crimson during the first power play, but a stick check by Pier-Olivier Michaud thwarted a shot from the slot late in the two minutes, and the puck slid out of the Harvard zone.

The Crimson dominated the second Big Red power play, keeping the puck in Cornell's zone most of the time. After Cornell killed a Harvard power play, the Crimson took its penalty-kill success a step further on the next Big Red chance. After junior Jack Christian made a big hit in the corner, he pushed the puck ahead to Taylor, who blazed up the middle of the ice, outskating three Cornell players and deking to the left to beat Scrivens at 15:09. The Big Red held a 5-4 edge in shots in the period.

The second period featured more hard hitting and continued play in the corners. The checking line of senior Tyler Magura, junior Jimmy Fraser and freshman Michael Del Mauro had two very strong shifts cycling in the offensive zone. Senior Jon Pelle had the first great chance about seven minutes before the intermission, curling out of the left corner and wristing a shot that was gloved by Scrivens.

Soon after, Fraser took the puck from a Big Red defender at the offensive blue line but had his shot stopped by a Scrivens toe save. The Crimson got another chance when Scrivens had some trouble with a long dump from sophomore Chad Morin and was forced to make a rebound stop on freshman Matt McCollem.

After the teams traded penalties, Colin Greening evened the score with a 4-on-4 goal at 17:16. Riley Nash got the puck on the right side of the neutral zone and found Greening darting over the Harvard blue line. Greening scored on a low shot to the right side. After taking another penalty, Cornell killed a 30-second 5-on-3 advantage for Harvard, keeping the game tied, 1-1, after two periods. Harvard had 10 second-period shots to Cornell's seven.

The Big Red had a pair of good chances early in the third. The first came when Richter saved a Patrick Kennedy shot into the left corner, and Kennedy threw the puck back through the crease, dangerously close to deflecting in off Richter. Kennedy started another play on the rush. He passed across the slot to Greening, whose shot from the right was stopped by Richter.

Michael Biega tried to put Harvard on top at the 10:32 mark. He picked the pocket of a defenseman at the bottom of the right circle, pulled the puck to the middle and had his shot saved and covered by Scrivens.

Magura added an empty-net tally at 18:19. McCafferty and Fraser chipped the puck up the left boards, and Magura collected it near center ice and sent a long shot into the open cage.

The Crimson will take next weekend off before beginning the ECAC Hockey playoffs with a quarterfinal series March 14-16 at Bright Hockey Center.