Pelle’s Tally Salvages Opening Road Trip

PRINCETON, N.J.—It was never pretty, and it was never completely in the bag, but the Harvard men’s hockey team got the win it needed Saturday night against Princeton. The Crimson rescued the weekend with a 2-1 win over the Tigers at Baker Rink, finishing its first road trip of the season 1-1.

Sophomore forward Jon Pelle netted the eventual game-winner four minutes into the third period with a high shot to the left post that beat Princeton goalie Eric Leroux. It was a crucial benchmark for Harvard (2-1-0, 2-1-0 ECAC), which came into the night after dropping a 5-2 stunner to ECAC-rookie Quinnipiac the night before.

It was a mediocre weekend for Harvard, which came into Friday’s game after a 6-2 thumping of Dartmouth. Against Quinnipiac and Princeton, the Crimson spent all night trying unsuccessfully to find that offensive firepower.

“[Friday] we didn’t come to play,” sophomore forward John Pelle said. “Tonight was a lot different for us. We did what we need to do on the road—nothing fancy. We worked hard, got the two points and got out of here.”

The Crimson still showed signs of Friday’s sluggishness against Princeton (2-2-0, 0-1-0), racking up 18 penalty minutes and giving up its third power-play goal in two nights. On the weekend, Harvard compiled 50 minutes in the box and went just 1-of-18 on the power play.

“I think we shot ourselves in the foot the last two games,” Harvard coach Ted Donato said. “We’re taking penalties that to me are pretty needless—away from the puck or not in dangerous situations. We’re going to have to eliminate that from our game if we want to beat very good teams.”

Harvard sent men to the penalty box in the opening minute of each of the first two periods against Princeton, but the Crimson went out to a 1-0 lead on freshman forward Nick Coskren’s power-play tally at 11:11 of the second period. Coskren cleaned up the rebound after Dave Watters’ shot from the right circle ricocheted off of Leroux’s pads and skidded out in front of the left post.

Princeton responded with its own power-play goal at 19:17 in the second period after several minutes of sustained pressure on the Harvard net. Crimson senior goaltender John Daigneau coughed up a rebound right in front of the net, and Princeton forward Will Harvey lifted a shot to the right corner for the equalizer. The goal came on the heels of Harvard’s fourth penalty in the second period.

“Coach said in between periods, ‘That’s how we’re going to lose the games—taking stupid penalties, taking unnecessary penalties’,” Pelle said. “That’s when we find ourselves in trouble—we get some momentum going in, we take a penalty, and everything slows down for us.”

The third period went Harvard’s way, however, as the Crimson denied the Tigers’ frenzied attempts at a tying goal in the game’s waning minutes. Senior defenseman Tom Walsh made a key stop near the net, and he cleared the puck seconds later as the clock wound down. Daigneau recorded 10 third-period saves and clamped down when the Tigers pulled the goalie late in the third.

“Princeton battled,” Donato said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, we had our hands full, but we did enough to win. We made some plays when we had to.”

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.