Men's Hockey Claws Past Tigers in Big Second Period

PRINCETON, N.J.—The Harvard men’s hockey team won its third consecutive conference contest on Friday night, defeating Princeton, 4-2, at Baker Rink.

Freshman center Doug Rogers scored two of the Crimson’s three second-period goals, as Harvard rallied from a 2-1 first-intermission deficit.

Though the Crimson (10-13-1, 8-9-1 ECAC) was idle on Saturday night while most of its ECAC rivals were in action, the two points against the Tigers (10-12-3, 7-9-2) helped Harvard remain tied for sixth place in the standings—comfortably removed from the Crimson’s place near the bottom of the tables just two weeks ago.

“We only had the potential to get two points this weekend, and everybody else in our league had a chance for four points,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “So we wanted to be able to keep looking up and potentially jump spots.”

Despite coming into the game as the eighth-ranked power play in the nation, the Crimson man-advantage units were just 1-for-5 on the night. But the Harvard offense was far from silent, tallying three even-strength goals.

The outburst was out of character for a team that has relied heavily on its power play for much of the season. The last time the Crimson notched three 5-on-5 scores was on Jan. 6, in a 3-2 victory over Union.

“As we come down the stretch, the number of penalties called around the league has been dropping rapidly,” Donato said. “So it’s important that we improve our 5-on-5 play.”

Trailing 2-1 at the first intermission, Harvard took control of the game in the middle frame.

Rogers tied the game just 57 seconds into the period. Picking up the puck in the left corner of the Princeton zone, the pivot skated behind the goal and somehow slipped a shallow backhand shot past Tigers goaltender Zane Kalemba at the right post.

“I just tried to wrap it in and flip it through the goalie’s legs,” Rogers said. “I didn’t really see the end of it, either.”

Junior center Paul Dufault gave the Crimson the lead midway through the period. After rookie defenseman Chad Morin fired a shot from the blue line, Dufault was perfectly positioned in the slot to turn and slam the rebound past Kalemba at the nine-minute mark for the eventual game-winner.

Rogers padded Harvard’s lead with just 12 seconds remaining in the second period, driving home the puck after Kalemba turned away junior winger Mike Taylor’s initial shot from the right circle.

“That’s just a reward to hard work,” Rogers said. “Our team worked really hard, and when that happens, you seem to get the bounces.”

The Crimson penalty kill also fared better in the second period, shutting down the Tigers after allowing two goals in two opportunities in the opening frame.

Harvard allowed just two Princeton man-advantage shots to reach the net, and freshmen goaltender Kyle Richter—who finished with 22 saves on the night—was able to turn both away.

“We didn’t do a very good job off the rush originally—they were getting in the zone a little easily,” Donato said. “We made a couple of adjustments, and we were able to stay out of the box, too.”

Despite a high level of intensity by both teams, the Tigers fared better on the scoreboard in the first period.

After senior forward Ryan Maki scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season to open the scoring, Princeton equalized just two and a half minutes later. Richter made the initial save on Tigers captain Darroll Powe, who beat two Crimson defenders and broke in on net. But center Mark Magnowski converted on the rebound from the left circle at 9:49.

Brett Wilson gave Princeton the 2-1 lead when he fired a slapshot past a screened Richter at 12:35 of the first period.

“We gave them the goals a little too easily,” Donato said.

Harvard missed a couple of chances to increase its lead in the final minutes of the game.

Senior center Kevin Du jumped his defender at the Tigers blue line and broke in alone on net, but Princeton goalie Thomas Sychterz, who replaced Kalemba to start the third period, stayed even with Du and made a low stick save.

With Sychterz pulled in favor of an extra attacker in the final minutes, sophomore defenseman Brian McCafferty and senior winger Steve Mandes skated down the ice on a 2-on-1. McCafferty, drawing the defender, sent a pass to Mandes at the right circle, but Mandes was only able to manage a high backhander that ricocheted off the right post.

NOTES

Dufault’s goal was his first of the season. The junior missed the first seven games of the season due to injury...Maki, Taylor, and Rogers all registered three points in the game...Rogers also fared well in the faceoff circle, winning 14 of 19 draws...Harvard outshot Princeton, 37-24...The Crimson returns to action tonight, when it takes on Northeastern in the consolation game of the Beanpot at 5 p.m.

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