Harvard Gelling Together Toward End of Regular Season

The Harvard men’s hockey team struggled early in the season, winning just four of its first 22 games.

But something has clicked for the Crimson as of late.

In a hard-fought game Friday night at the Bright Hockey Center, Harvard (8-19-1, 6-14-1 ECAC) capitalized on two power-play goals to defeat Clarkson (15-17-2, 8-12-1 ECAC), 3-1. In the process, the Crimson won for the fourth time in its past five contests.

“[The] game was great,” said co-captain and forward Michael Del Mauro. “We showed we could play in a close game and in the end come out with a win. That’s the resiliency we need to see at this point in the season.”

The contest began uneventfully, with neither squad able to find the back of the net in the first period. While the Harvard front line struggled initially, managing only three shots on goal in the first nine minutes, the home team began to come alive later in the period, tallying seven shots in the ensuing 11 minutes.

But it wasn’t until the next period that Crimson found the back of the net.

Thanks to an elbowing call on a Knight forward, Harvard earned a power play 13 minutes into the frame. With the Crimson supplying pressure in Clarkson’s defensive zone, junior defenseman Ryan Grimshaw took a shot from the point, which sophomore forward Marshall Everson tried to tip in. The Knights goaltender blocked Everson’s shot, but the puck landed right in front of sophomore forward Alex Fallstrom, who hit it past the Clarkson netminder for the score.

The 1-0 lead proved short-lived. Just 34 seconds later, Clarkson responded with the equalizer.

“The puck moved back, and we really just miscommunicated and misplayed the entire play,” Del Mauro said. “It ended up costing us.”

But that one lapse proved to be the Knights’ only goal of the night.

“[Clarkson’s goal is] something that we were able to recover from which earlier in the year maybe would’ve sent us into a little bit of a spiral,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91.

The score remained tied well into the third period until the Crimson earned its third power play of the night.

And once again, Harvard made Clarkson pay.

With just over six minutes left, freshman defenseman Dan Ford and Grimshaw traded passes at the Knights blue line before Grimshaw fired a shot on goal. Like in the earlier power play, Everson tried to tip it past the Clarkson goaltender. But this time, Everson’s play worked, with the puck finding its way into the net to give the Crimson the 2-1 edge.

With the goal, Harvard had converted 11 of its past 23 power play opportunities in ECAC play.

“Our power play in general looks a lot more dangerous,” Donato said. “[It] has really come on lately.”

“The key to a good power play is puck movement, and I really think we’re moving the puck well and really finding our spots,” Fallstrom added.

But the Crimson’s goal scoring wasn’t finished quite yet. After the visitors pulled their goalie, junior forward Alex Killorn took advantage of the opportunity. After grabbing a loose puck, Killorn skated unchallenged into the Knights zone before easily pushing the puck into the open net.

The goal put the game out of reach for the visitors. With just 40 seconds remaining, getting one goal by the Crimson back line would have been tough, let alone two.

“Our D played great,” Del Mauro said. “We were getting the puck out of our zone and playing in theirs more…which is really ideal.”

Senior goaltender Ryan Carroll led Harvard’s back line, saving 23 of the 24 shots that came his way.

“Carroll was very solid in the net and was very calming for us,” Donato said. “He was very sound and positionally right on.”

Of course, the offense played pretty well too. With its three goals tonight, Harvard has found the back of the net 19 times in its last six games.

“Now the puck’s going into the net a little bit for us,” Donato said. “The next challenge, the next level, is to do it consistently.”

As ECAC playoffs loom near, the Crimson is hitting its stride at exactly the right time.

“You want to be playing your best hockey going into playoffs, and at this point I’m pretty confident saying we’re playing our best hockey,” Del Mauro said. “And we still have more to give.”

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