Late-Game Struggles Trump Dominant Start

The Harvard men’s hockey team started on fire against Rensselaer at the Bright Hockey Center on Friday, scoring two goals in the first two minutes. But the strong start was not enough as the Engineers rallied from behind to take the lead in the second period. Even though the Crimson (7-15-3, 7-8-3 ECAC) outshot Rensselaer (16-13-3, 9-7-2), 10-2, in the third period, the Engineers withstood the barrage and came away with a 5-4 road victory.

“It was one of those games that was a fan’s delight and a coach’s nightmare,” Rensselaer coach Seth Appert said.

And sure enough, the Engineers’ fans shook the arena with their cheers in the final minutes, as their team completed a two-goal comeback.

Harvard senior defenseman Jack Christian’s first goal of the year came 18 seconds into the first period, when he rocketed a slap shot from the left circle that crushed the post before rebounding into the goal. Just moments later, his teammate, sophomore forward Daniel Moriarty, deflected a shot into the Rensselaer net, but the tally was called back due to high sticking.

In the second minute, Crimson junior Michael Biega received a pass from freshman Louis LeBlanc and struck the puck past Engineer goalie Allen York for the second score of the game.

“I thought it was a wild first two periods,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “We got off to a good start. We put a lot of pucks on the net in the first few minutes.”

Despite an early deficit, Rensselaer regrouped, and Engineers forward Jerry D’Amigo made the score 2-1 in the 11th minute, when he broke past Harvard’s last defender, cut hard to his left, and shot over the glove of junior goaltender Ryan Carroll.

“The last thing we talked about was doing the job on their big line,” Donato said. “D’Amigo had a goal, and [Chase] Polacek had two. That was probably the difference in the game.”

Harvard freshman forward Alex Fallstrom responded with a power play goal two minutes later, taking advantage of a holding penalty by Rensselaer.

But the Crimson’s lead would not hold up, for in the span of 20 seconds, the Engineers scored twice to tie up the game, 3-3. At that point, Donato decided to pull Carroll for junior Kyle Richter.

“We didn’t think the goals were great that went into the net and we wanted to make a switch,” Donato said. “We wanted to give ourselves a chance to have someone there that’s playing their best.”

Harvard came out in the second period more composed, passing the puck around to make the most of its possessions. In the fourth minute, the Crimson retook the lead.

Captain Alex Biega initiated the goal-scoring play when he attempted a slap shot, which made its way through traffic. After some jostling in front of the crease, freshman forward Conor Morrison picked up the rebound and directed it past the distracted goaltender.

But that would be the end of the scoring for Harvard, as Rensselaer tied the game late in the second period and took the lead for the first time on a power play, making the score 5-4. Despite outshooting the Engineers, 10-2, in the third period, the Crimson could not convert and came away with a disappointing loss at home.

“We had to be committed to doing the little things for the entire game and we got away from it,” Donato said. “Oddly enough, I thought that in the third period we played our best...as tough of a start as York had, I thought he was pretty solid in the third.”

York had 29 saves overall and shut out Harvard in that critical third period to seal the Engineer comeback.

“It was obviously disappointing,” Alex Beiga said. “We played about six different periods in three periods...[and] we got away from our game later on.”

Harvard has four ECAC games remaining—two at home and two on the road.

“I think every point counts, and we are trying to get as good a spot as we can going into the playoffs,” Donato said. “We want to try to get home ice…the next [few] games for us will have a large impact on that.”