Richter’s Big Day Not Enough against No. 15 Union

In its season-opening matchup against No. 15 Union, the defense of the Harvard men’s hockey team was put to a serious test, as the Crimson struggled to generate shots on goal. The Dutchmen (6-1-2, 1-0-0 ECAC) took the contest, 2-1.

Before 2,374 rowdy fans, Harvard managed to put only 16 shots on goal, compared to Union’s 35, and spent most of the night defending its own zone.

Led by co-captain Chris Huxley and assistant captain Kyle Richter, the Crimson’s defense stood tall against the Dutchmen for the majority of the game, allowing just two of the 35 shots into the net.

“It’s pretty obvious that we got outplayed for most of the game,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “Union hemmed us in our end quite a bit. Our guys battled and were one shot away, even though we hadn’t played all that well in the first two periods.”

Indeed, the Crimson was lucky to escape the first period with the 0-0 score line still intact. The Dutchmen outshot Harvard, 11-3, in the period. The Crimson’s best opportunity came midway through the frame, when sophomore forward Luke Greiner broke away and went one-on-one with Union goaltender Keith Kinkaid, forcing him to come out of the cage to make the save.

After a scoreless first period, the Dutchmen took the lead 8:30 into the second, when Kelly Zajac stuffed the rebound from Adam Presizniuk’s shot behind Richter. The senior goaltender made a total of 33 saves on the night.

The beginning of the third period saw more back-and-forth play between the two teams before the Crimson came back to tie the game halfway through the period.

“Third period, definitely we saw a little more intensity,” sophomore defenseman Danny Biega said. “We were a little more desperate just to bury pucks and try to get some goals, so that definitely motivated us.”

Harvard’s only tally of the night came off of a strong effort from Biega. Nine minutes into the third, the second-year skater took the puck at the top of the right circle before firing a shot at net. Kinkaid made the save, but Biega quickly swooped in to gather the rebound and deflect the puck off Kinkaid’s stick and into the goal.

“It was a good play by [junior forward] Danny Moriarty to get the puck down low, and we just connected,” Biega said. “He made a great...pass right in the middle right to me, and I didn’t get my shot right away, but fortunately the puck stayed near. I got my own rebound off the net, [and] I redirected it back toward the net.”

But the momentum turned back in favor of the Dutchmen as the minutes died down. Freshman defenseman Danny Fick was whistled for holding with just over six minutes left to play. Presizniuk won the ensuing offensive-zone faceoff, finding John Simpson from the left dot. Simpson then passed the puck to Greg Coburn, who fired the shot past Richter.

The tally came just four seconds into the power play and put Union up, 2-1.

The score was a big blow to Harvard, coming after what seemed to be a comeback by the Crimson, and ultimately gave the Dutchmen the win.

Because it lost last year’s top two scorers—ECAC Rookie of the Year Louis Leblanc and Doug Rogers ’10—Harvard now faces a dearth of offensive firepower. In addition to being outshot, 35-16, on the night, the Crimson won just 17 out of 57 faceoffs.

“Talk about losing battles and races,” Donato said. “Our numbers on the faceoff circle were 17 [to Union’s] 40. We weren’t really ready to get enough positives going, our energy going, and our forecheck going to really turn the game in our favor.”

Though it was playing in its first game of the season against a more seasoned Union squad, the Crimson’s offensive shortcomings were reflective of something more than just early-season rust.

“We’re not about making excuses,” Donato said. “I don’t really see how playing nine games or 99 games should make a big difference in faceoffs and getting the pucks first.”

—Staff writer Lucy D. Chen can be reached at lucychen@fas.harvard.edu.