Clarkson's players celebrate their 5-4 overtime victory over Harvard in ECAC semifinal action Friday at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

LAKE PLACID — Things weren’t looking very promising for Clarkson’s hockey team after it fell into a 3-0 hole against Harvard even before Friday’s second ECAC semifinal game was halfway over. The night began to look a little better when Jack Jacome scored the Golden Knights’ first goal to make it a 3-1 game heading into the third period.

A Crimson goal six seconds into the third then put Clarkson’s backs to the wall again facing a 4-1 deficit. The Golden Knights however, responded in a wild way, scoring three times in a span of under four minutes to tie the contest, and then getting the game-winning goal in sudden-death overtime by Sheldon Rempal to claim a 5-4 victory over Harvard to reach tonight’s championship final against Princeton.

In front of a crowd of more than 5,000 at the Herb Brooks Arena, with the majority clad in gold and green, Clarkson completed its dramatic comeback when Rempal wristed the puck past Harvard goalie Merrick Madsen 11:38 into the sudden-death period. After netting the winner, Rempal started heading toward the other end of the rink to celebrate and was joined by the entire team as their bench emptied.

“It was a bit of a blur,” Rempal said. “It was pure joy. To get that win and get a chance to compete for a championship with my brothers is great for the school. This was the top game through all my years in hockey, but at the end of the night, we have to go to bed, get up and try to win a championship tomorrow.”

Harvard, which was attempting to defend its championship from a year ago, was fueled by special teams play early on in its fourth straight trip to the ECAC finals in Lake Placid. The Crimson netted their first two goals on power plays. Reilly Walsh scored the only goal of the first period, beating Clarkson goalie Jake Kielly at the 11:37 mark for a 1-0 Harvard edge.

Lewis Zerter-Gossage upped Harvard’s lead to 2-0 with 5:47 gone in the second, and Bryce Pelton scored 2:11 later, and all of a sudden, the Crimson was on top 3-0. But from there, Clarkson sent home five of the game’s next six goals to put an end to Harvard’s season.

Jacome put Clarkson on the board on a power-play goal at the 13:57 mark of the second to send the game into the third period with Harvard on top 3-1. Then came the dramatics.

With just six seconds gone in the third, Jacome netted his second of the night, giving the Crimson a 4-1 advantage. Nine seconds later, Nic Pierog answered for Clarkson and it was now a 4-2 battle. Less than a minute later, Devin Brousseau sent home the third Golden Knights’ tally, and then at the 4:02 mark, Clarkson completed its fan-fueled comeback as Dylan Gareau buried a puck to deadlock the score at 4-4.

The teams then finished the rest of the period with up-and-down hockey that saw Clarkson rattle a potential winning goal off a post.

The Crimson applied some big-time pressure early in overtime, and nearly won the game on a shot of their own that rattled off a goal post. And after surviving early, Clarkson delighted their fans with a huge win in the Golden Knights first appearance in the ECAC championship finals in 11 years.

“Not an ounce of worry,” Pierog said.

Clarkson,which entered the ECAC tourament as the second seed and ranked 10th in the nation, improved to 23-9-6 with the win.

Facing a must-win situation to earn a berth in the NCAA tourney, Harvard saw it’s season end with a 15-14-4 record. The game marked the end of Madsen’s stellar goaltending career at Harvard. The senior finished with 31 saves.

“I thought we had them in a good spot, but they kept coming,” Harvard head coach Ted Donato said.