Biega Hat Trick Highlights Weekend Split

After a tough seven-game losing streak, the Harvard men’s hockey team was in desperate need of a victory Friday night when league opponent Colgate came to town. When the Raiders scored within the first eight minutes, it appeared that the Crimson was headed for another defeat.

That’s when sophomore Danny Biega took control of the game. Leading the charge with three scores, Biega keyed Harvard’s win in a 6-2 trouncing of Colgate at the Bright Hockey Center.

“He played well,” said co-captain and defenseman Chris Huxley. “He’s an offensive threat and he plays well in the defensive zones.”

With the performance, Biega tallied the first hat trick of his young career.

“There are some nights you get some breaks and the puck seems to go your way,” Biega said. “The game against Colgate just happened to be one of those nights.”

“To get a hat trick is something pretty special,” Biega added.

With his performance Friday, the Montreal native now has 10 points in his last nine games.

It wasn’t the first Biega hat trick this season: older brother Michael accomplished the feat earlier this month against Brown.

But Friday night belonged to the younger Biega, who began his scoring tear just 13 seconds after the Raiders took the lead.

After fielding a missed shot by Alex Killorn, Michael Biega passed to sophomore Conor Morrison, who had the wherewithal to let the puck go by him and right to Danny Biega’s stick. From the slot, the sophomore fired the puck, which hit the left post before bounding into the back of the net.

But the goal did more than just even the game at one apiece.

“It was definitely a little bit of a momentum switch in the sense that we gained a little more life,” Biega said.

After sophomore Alex Fallstrom gave the Crimson the lead at the end of the first period, Biega continued to terrorize the Colgate back line. On the power play, Biega traded passes with Huxley before firing a shot from the point.

“We had a great screen in front of the net, and I didn’t think twice and shot it through the first penalty killer’s legs,” Biega said. “I don’t think the goalie had an opportunity to see it, so it found the back of the net.”

The score seemed to catalyze Harvard’s strong work on the power play.

“We haven’t been doing too well in the power play lately, so [the goal] gave our power play a lot of energy,” Huxley said. “And I think that correlated to us being much better on the power play over the weekend.”

But Biega wasn’t finished just yet. At the end of the third period, while in traffic at the Crimson’s defensive zone, Biega fired a shot on an empty Raiders net. The puck trickled past the line with only four seconds left to play.

“[All] of the goals were equally impressive,” Huxley said. “[But] the third one might have been the hardest one.”

The sophomore continued his high level the following night against Cornell. Harvard fell to the Big Red, 2-1, but Biega nearly gave Harvard a 2-1 advantage in the third period.

With just about six minutes to go, Biega flew down the left side of the ice. Killorn weaved the puck through a defender to find Biega’s backhand. Biega managed to get off a shot, but Cornell goaltender Andy Iles made a critical save to foil the attempt.

“[I] was just amazed at the save Andy Isle made,” Biega said. “He stuck his right leg out and lifted it up so [the puck] ended up hitting his right skate and then...the post.”

“[He was] within inches [of scoring],” Huxley added. “It wasn’t the only chance he had all game either.”

Biega was unable to lift his team to victory against Cornell Saturday night, but he still played a critical role in what could be the beginning of the Crimson’s turnaround.

“He’s a fast skater, [and] you have to honor him when he has the puck,” Huxley said. “He also has a really good shot too, and I think that showed this weekend.”

—Staff writer Robert S. Samuels can be reached at robertsamuels@college.harvard.edu.