Crimson Splits With Ranked ECAC Foes

Though it struggled to generate offense on the road a week ago, the Harvard men’s hockey team scored nine goals in the Bright Hockey Center this weekend, collapsing late against No. 3 Cornell but holding off a rally from No. 17 Colgate to secure the split.

The Crimson (3-2-0, 3-2-0 ECAC) came within five minutes of upsetting the Big Red on Friday but allowed two quick tallies and fell, 4-3.

Harvard bounced back Saturday, running off six unanswered goals against the Raiders, four of which were power-play strikes.

The man-advantage outburst came after the Crimson converted only two of its 18 opportunities last weekend against Princeton and Quinnipiac.

“We moved the puck around, we used the options, and it was a huge difference in the game,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said on Saturday night. “Our power play was able to score when the game was up for grabs.”

HARVARD 6, COLGATE 4

Three late Raider goals turned a blowout into a close game—at least on the scoreboard.

But the Crimson dominated Colgate Saturday, peppering the Raiders with 37 shots.

Harvard led 5-1 after two periods before Colgate (6-2-0, 3-1-0) notched three man-advantage tallies in a span of 2:50 to cut the Crimson’s lead to two.

Sophomore center Paul Dufault led the Harvard offense with two goals and an assist, and classmate Mike Taylor scored what proved to be the game-winner at 18:12 of the second period, capitalizing on a give-and-go with linemate Kevin Du and firing a shot past helpless Raiders’ backup Justin Kowalkoski.

Taylor’s tally was one of only two even-strength goals by the Crimson on a night where special teams won the game.

In addition to scoring four times in six man-advantage opportunities, Harvard held the Colgate power play scoreless through five shifts before finally succumbing midway through the third period.

“[Harvard’s] penalty kill was something that frustrated us,” Raiders coach Don Vaughan said. “They stacked along the blue line, and we weren’t able to penetrate.”

Though Colgate opened the scoring with a Tyler Burton tally in the sixth minute, Dufault evened the score on the power play at 16:06. The pivot scooped up a rebound from a Ryan Maki shot along the left post and deposited the puck in the right-side netting.

Just 69 seconds later, sophomore winger Steve Mandes picked off a futile clearance attempt by Raiders netminder Mark Dekanich and slid the puck into the bottom right corner to give Harvard its first lead of the night.

Freshman defenseman Brian McCafferty later put the Crimson ahead 6-1 with his first career collegiate tally at 7:14 in the third period, just two minutes before Colagate’s final, three-goal offensive outburst.

“Obviously, we would like to finish the game a little stronger,” Donato said. “We want to keep doing the things that have made us successful in the game until that point.”

CORNELL 4, HARVARD 3

With a one-goal lead at home against the No. 3 Big Red, and with just over 10 minutes left to play, Harvard had the upper hand.

But two Cornell goals less than three minutes apart gave the Big Red a 4-3 victory Friday night.

After playing catch-up and turning over the puck for much of the third period, Cornell (4-2-0, 3-1-0) took a timeout at 13:41.

The Crimson led 3-2, but just over a minute later, Big Red defenseman Doug Krantz pounced on a dribbling puck near Harvard’s blue line and sent the equalizer past Crimson netminder John Daigneau.

Topher Scott then tallied the game-winner at 17:29, stuffing in the rebound off a shot by linemate Cam Abbot.

Harvard had a chance to pull even, going on the power play with 2:07 remaining, but the Crimson failed to get a single shot on net.

“It was pretty quick—I didn’t see it coming,” senior center Charlie Johnson said. “[There were] just a couple of small things [Cornell was] able to capitalize on.”

The Big Red solved Harvard’s penalty kill with a two-for-three power play in the first period, giving Cornell a 2-1 edge despite Dufault’s third-minute goal to open the night’s scoring.

On the other hand, an outstanding save by Daigneau in the second period brought the Crimson’s power play to life.

After the goaltender twisted his body to make a diving glove stop on a shorthanded Big Red 2-on-1, Harvard forward Dan Murphy tipped in a shot from defenseman Tom Walsh on the ensuing counterattack, tying the score at two goals apiece at 8:28.

The Crimson’s power play put Harvard up 3-2 in the third, when a cutting Johnson took a feed from Du and sailed a shot right over netminder David McKee’s shoulder.

But the goal would soon be obscured by Cornell’s two quick tallies.

“I thought our guys did a lot of good things,” Donato said, “But when you play a top-notch team, sometimes it’s just a couple of minor little details, couple of little breakdowns, couple of plays that are the difference.”

—Staff writer Karan Lodha can be reached at klodha@fas.harvard.edu.