Crimson Succumbs to Eagles in Beanpot

BOSTON – Bean there, done that.

Falling short of victory against Boston College, 3-1, the Harvard men’s hockey team suffered defeat in the first round of the Beanpot for the ninth year in a row.

The loss broke its two-game winning streak with a loss at the TD Banknorth Garden last night.

“Overall, neither team had great chances,” said Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91. “I didn’t feel that we were able to ever get the pressure and sustain the attack that we have the past few games…I didn’t think it was an X’s and O’s type of battle out there. I just think we weren’t able to execute some plays, we weren’t able to establish a forecheck, we weren’t able to get pucks in the net, we weren’t able to get traffic.”

Harvard (9-13-1, 6-9-1 ECAC) started the first period strongly, as senior Kevin Du skated up the left side after blocking a BC (15-10-1, 11-8-1 HEA) shot with his body, maneuvering through the Eagles’ defense to pass the puck across to captain Dylan Reese. Slamming in a shot from the right side, Reese landed the Crimson’s only goal of the night 8:12 into the first period.

Hoping to boost Harvard’s lead, senior Steve Mandes and junior Mike Taylor challenged BC goalie Cory Schneider, sliding the puck back and forth down the ice before releasing a shot, but the Eagles’ netminder smacked it away.

Outshooting the Crimson 12-7 in the first period, BC quickly gained momentum and tied it up 1-1, as Eagle Benn Ferriero hammered in a wide right shot without a screen to put one past Harvard goalie Kyle Richter 17:27 into the first.

“I honestly don’t mean to demean anybody, but I thought all three of the goals [for both teams] were goals that the goalies would like to have back,” Donato said.

Attempting a déjà vu performance, BC tried to slam in another shot from the right side of the faceoff circle shortly after.

But this time Richter got his hands on it.

In the second period, a tripping penalty on the Eagles’ Mike Brennan’s landed him in the box.

This costly mistake provided the Crimson with a power play opportunity.

But the squad failed to capitalize on its man-advantage, and instead BC’s Nathan Gerbe netted a shot from the right side of the crease while his team was shorthanded, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead 6:22 into the second.

“I overplayed the guy with the puck a little bit,” Reese said. “He made a pass over…and obviously got a backhand shot, and that’s a tough shot to save because backhand shots are hard to read.”

Struggling to tie it up for Harvard, sophomore Jimmy Fraser pounded a shot from the right and followed up his own rebound, but Schneider stayed on top of the puck to maintain BC’s lead.

Despite this adjustment, the Crimson failed to produce any solid offensive in the third period to threaten the Eagles’ chances of attaining victory.

“I think we didn’t make enough plays during the game,” Donato said. “We had five shots trailing a goal in the third period, and it’s just not good enough.”

In a last-ditch attempt to stay in the game, Harvard pulled Richter for an extra skater, but the plan backfired: with 18.9 seconds left in the game.

BC sealed their victory with a shot on an empty net, clinching the game, 3-1.

“Something we’re struggling to do is come back,” Reese said. “It takes a lot of adversity to be down over the third period and the second period, and we’re still trying to develop as a team even though the season’s coming to a close.”

Looking bounce back from the loss, the Crimson will face off against Princeton this Friday before it competes in the consolation round of the Beanpot next Monday at five o’clock against Northeastern.

—Staff writer Courtney D. Skinner can be reached at cskinner@fas.harvard.edu.