Harvard Loses in Rivalry Matchup

Two games, same story.

Although the Harvard men’s hockey team (1-2, 1-2 ECAC, 1-1 Ivy) took a 3-1 lead in the first two periods against the Big Red (3-0, 3-0 ECAC, 2-0 Ivy), the Crimson yielded four goals in the final frame, ultimately succumbing to long-time rivals No. 5 Cornell, 6-3. Saturday’s defeat at Lynah Rink was Harvard’s second loss of the weekend in which the team held an early advantage.

“We didn’t play 60 minutes—we played 40,” captain Alex Biega said. “That’s the difference between us winning and losing. But I’d rather learn these lessons now than have it happen later on down the road.”

Although the Crimson led 3-2 upon entering the third period, Cornell slammed in three goals in the first ten minutes of the final frame, pulling ahead of the Crimson, 5-3. The Big Red’s Joe Devin struck twice, putting the puck past Crimson netminder Ryan Carroll at 2:27 and 5:59 into the period.

Forward Blake Gallagher followed up with a powerplay goal minutes later, and Cornell newcomer Greg Miller sealed the deal with the Big Red’s final goal of the night with 6:31 left in the game.

The Crimson tried to rally in the remainder of the period when Cornell’s Sean Collins was sent to the box for boarding. But Harvard failed to convert on the power play, handing a 6-3 victory to the Ithaca squad as time ran out.

“I’d attribute [the defensive breakdown in the final frame] to it being early in the year,” senior forward Doug Rogers said. “Playing team defense is a kind of a problem you have early on...I thought we played them well, but we’ve got to tighten up our third period.”

Carroll, who replaced junior Kyle Richter in net after Friday’s 5-4 loss to Colgate, notched 24 saves in his season debut against the Big Red.

“Both goalies played great [this weekend],” Biega said. “It was unfortunate the way things turned out with the result, but it wasn’t like they gave up bad goals or had bad games. They were very sharp and focused for us, and made some key stops at different points in the game.”

While the Crimson lost focus in the last period, Harvard’s rookies generated some solid offense at the beginning of the game. Freshman Louis Leblanc, who launched a team-leading five shots, slammed in his second goal of the year off of a pass from junior Michael Biega, putting the Crimson on the board with 5:30 left in the opening frame. The Big Red tied it up at the beginning of the second, but Harvard regained the lead only 74 seconds later, as sophomore Ryan Grimshaw launched a pass to freshman Conor Morrison, who put the puck behind Cornell netminder Ben Scrivens for a 2-1 Crimson lead. The goal was Morrison’s first this season.

Halfway through the second period, freshman Alex Fallstrom followed up on an assist from Rogers to boost Harvard’s lead to 3-1. And while none of rookie Marshall Everson’s attempts made it in, the Minnesotan freshman tallied two shots against Scrivens.

“I think [the freshmen] showed that they have the ability to score goals for us,” Rogers said. “All have the ability to play at a high speed and they’re smart players.”

“We brought in a tremendous class in the freshmen,” Alex Biega said, “who’ve been immediate impact players for us and add a valuable aspect of the team up front.”

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