Harvard Concedes Season Sweep

The Cornell offense needed only 25 seconds to secure the scoreboard in Harvard’s 3-0 defeat at Bright Hockey Center on Friday night.

Tallying two quick goals about halfway through the second period, the rival No. 10 Big Red (16-8-3, 13-5-2 ECAC) built up a lead that would be too difficult for the Crimson (7-17-3, 7-10-3 ECAC) to overcome.

“I thought our team battled, especially in the third period, but we put ourselves behind the eight ball with a poor second period,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “They’re a very good team, and you have to be able to put together 60 solid minutes, and we weren’t able to.”

With a packed home arena and a century-long rivalry between the two ice hockey teams, the stakes were high for the Crimson. But a slow start led to the squad’s ultimate loss.

In a scoreless first period, Harvard killed two consecutive Big Red power plays and was able to contain the Cornell offense. Junior goaltender Kyle Richter came up strong between the pipes for the Crimson, stopping 11 first-period shots, with six coming on the penalty kill. He would go on to log 23 saves for the game.

“I think Kyle was solid in net in the first period,” Donato said. “He allowed us a chance to come back and play a better second period, but we didn’t.”

The game quickly changed for Harvard when Big Red fourth-line winger Tyler Roeszler lit the lamp on a shot from the slot about halfway through the second.

Cornell struck just 25 seconds later when Big Red defensemen Keir Ross fired a shot past a screened Richter to double the lead.

Cornell then carried its momentum through the end of the period and shut down the Crimson’s offense, limiting the home team to just two shots in the second.

“We’re not going to win any hockey games when we only establish eight shots in the first two periods,” captain Alex Biega said. “They got a good lead, but, unfortunately, we never had the opportunity to battle back.”

“They pretty much shut us down in their end and were able to control the puck in our zone in the second period,” Donato added. “With a team that is that defensively sound and has that type of goaltender, it’s a tough hill to climb.”

Harvard gained momentum in the third, putting 14 shots on goal in comparison to the Big Red’s five. With a little over a minute left, the Crimson pulled Richter in favor of another attacker in its last attempt to score, but Cornell’s defense and goaltender Ben Scrivens stayed strong to maintain the shutout. The Big Red was also able to capitalize on Harvard’s open net with 21.6 seconds remaining, increasing its lead to 3-0 and locking up the win.

“They made it difficult for us to get to the net,” Donato said. “They blocked a ton of shots. I thought in the third period, we battled through and were able to get some more pucks to the net, but they are a very sound team in a lot of areas.”

And when playing tough teams, every minute counts.

“We turned it on a little in the third period, but it was too late,” Biega said.

“It comes down to playing 60 minutes,” Richter added. “We’ve been stressing that this whole year, and it’s been something we’ve been having trouble with. Tonight was...an example of not playing a full game.”