Power-Play Still Crimson’s Achilles’ Heel

Upstate New York proved to be much less hospitable than Bright Hockey Center for the No. 18 men’s hockey team, which lost both games of its first road trip of the season. The Crimson (2-2-0, 2-2-0 ECAC) lost its first game of the season Friday, falling 3-2 to Rensselaer while giving up three special teams goals. Saturday was no better, as Harvard committed 12 penalties in a 3-1 loss to Union.

“It was a tough weekend for us,” sophomore forward Michael Biega said. “I think it just showed us how hard it is to win on the road.”

UNION 3, HARVARD 1

Penalties proved to be the difference for Union (4-2-1, 1-1-0), as the Dutchmen scored twice on six second-period power plays.

Freshman Alex Killorn notched his first career goal for the Crimson, while freshman Matt Hoyle made 29 saves.

“They’re really calling a lot more penalties,” Biega said. “It’s kind of a big change for us this year that we’re still getting used to.”

Defense dominated the action early on, with neither team getting many clear looks at net. Harvard’s best opportunity came on a shot by freshman Rence Coassin 15 minutes into the period, but Dutchmen goalie Corey Milan made the stop. The netminder totaled 27 saves for the game. Biega took a shot on a power play two minutes later, but Milan turned it aside.

The first period ended scoreless with the Crimson ahead in shots, 7-5.

Multiple Union penalties in the second period gave Harvard 4-on-3, 5-on-3 and 5-on-4 advantages, but the Crimson was unable to convert opportunities.

Neither was its opponent, who had the puck at the goal line shortly after the 30 minute mark, but Hoyle made two clutch stops while drawing an interference call.

Harvard looked to have taken the lead on the ensuing power play, when sophomore Matt McCollem’s backhand appeared to be a goal, but it was waved off, a call confirmed by video replay.

Unperturbed, the Crimson opened the scoring seconds later with Killorn’s power-play score on senior Steve Rolecek’s assist after the Union goalie lost sight of the puck. Harvard’s lead would be short-lived, lasting only two minutes before an RPI power play led to the equalizer.

The following two penalties taken 17 seconds apart were too much for the Crimson to withstand. Hoyle kept the game tied with several saves, but Lane Caffaro knocked in a wrist shot at 17:19 to give Union the 2-1 lead.

The rest of the period was scoreless, thanks to Hoyle’s 20 saves in the frame.

Although Harvard took four of the first five shots in the third period, it was the Dutchmen who doubled their lead, as Luke Cain went one-on-one with Hoyle and slid the backhand past him. The goal was the first allowed at even strength by Harvard this season.

The Crimson seemed to trim the deficit to one with 40 seconds left, when Alex Biega’s wrist shot found the top right corner of the net, but the goal was disallowed upon video review.

RENSSELAER 3, HARVARD 2

In a rematch of last Tuesday’s game, Rensselaer (2-5-1, 1-1-0) gave Harvard its first loss of the year Friday, despite the Crimson’s 28-26 lead in shots on goal.

Rolecek and senior Nick Coskren scored for Harvard, with junior defenseman Alex Biega assisting on each.

Despite five penalties in the first period and an additional power play to start the second, it was the Engineers that struck first when forward Paul Kerins scored unassisted for the short-handed goal.

Three minutes later, a Harvard penalty gave RPI a man advantage, which it used to open up a two-goal lead, as Matt Angers-Goulet went top shelf.

“When you’re on the road, it’s really important to come out hard,” captain Jimmy Fraser said. “I thought we came out a little flat.”

Rolocek responded for the Crimson three minutes later for his first goal of the year, cutting the Engineers lead in half. Harvard would take a 4-3 man advantage thanks to a scrum and a penalty, but RPI goalie Matthias Lange made three saves to preserve the Engineers’ one-goal lead heading into the second intermission.

The third period was a study of contrasts, as two Harvard power plays were fruitless. Lange made several great saves to deny the Crimson, which would soon find itself down a man as well.

RPI used the power play to increase its lead back to two when Chase Polacek hammered in a one-timer from the slot.

Barely two minutes later, Coskren cut the deficit to one on the power play. The rebound off Biega’s shot was his second goal of the year. But the Engineers limited Harvard to one shot on goal for the game’s final six minutes, closing it out to give RPI its first league win of the season.

“The puck wasn’t really going our way, and we didn’t really capitalize on the chances we had,” Biega said.