Men's Hockey Prevails in Closely Fought Game

In the Anne of Green Gables novels, set in Prince Edward Island, the titular character is constantly engaged in back-and-forth bickering with her classmate and rival, Gilbert Blythe.

When PEI visited the Bright Hockey Center for an exhibition contest yesterday, it was a similarly give-and-take affair, as Harvard’s freshmen powered the Crimson to a 6-3 victory.

“I thought both teams battled very hard,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “I give PEI a lot of credit—they really stuck with it.”

The scoring began just 3:51 into the game, as a combined effort from the Crimson’s offense and defense resulted in a stylish opening statement.

After the Harvard defense stonewalled a PEI surge and punched the puck out of the zone, it was picked up by freshman forward Matt McCollem. McCollem took the puck from center ice to paydirt, employing an athletic move to weave between two Panther defenders before depositing the puck in the left side of the net.

“It was just a great individual effort by him and a really pretty goal to watch,” co-captain Mike Taylor said.

Just five minutes later, another underclassman was able to light the lamp. Forward Michael Biega, younger brother of sophomore defenseman Alex, received a cross from junior forward Steve Rolecek and sent the puck past PEI goalie Dayne Davis for a 2-0 lead.

“I know when I was a freshman, I was pretty nervous my first game, so it was good to see,” Taylor said of the scoring by the rookies. “We’ve got to have everyone contributing and it’s good to see them starting early.”

After the Panthers brought the score to 2-1 on a Howie Martin goal at 12:40, the two teams traded scores to open the second period, with sophomore forward Doug Rogers netting the goal for Harvard and Martin scoring again for PEI.

13:20 into the frame, Harvard went up 4-2 on yet another highlight-reel play from a first-year.

This time it was forward Pier-Olivier Michaud who showed off his moves, getting Davis to bite at a nifty fake at the left post before finding a wide-open right corner.

“Michaud showed a lot of poise with the puck there on his deke,” Donato said.

It was not, however, good news across the board for the Crimson freshmen. First-year defender Chris Huxley had a pass intercepted at his own blue line at the end of the second period. The errant pass led to a breakaway and shorthanded score for PEI’s Craig Foster that brought the margin back to one goal at 4-3.

“We all made mistakes out there today,” Taylor said of the miscue. “[We were] shaking the rust off, and it didn’t matter if you were a freshman or a senior.”

A series of penalties in the third period resulted in each team enjoying well over a minute of 5-on-3 play, but neither was able to capitalize.

Harvard managed to pull away in the game’s final minutes, picking up scores from sophomore forward Doug Rogers and senior forward Dave Watters to make it a 6-3 final.

“We’ve got a lot to work on in all areas,” Taylor said. “But overall, I’m pleased with the team attitude and effort this year.”

—Staff writer Daniel J. Rubin-Wills can be reached at drubin@fas.harvard.edu.