Men's Hockey Escapes with 2-2 Tie at No. 9 Cornell

The Harvard men’s hockey team overcame flying dead fish and a third-period deficit to tie No. 9 Cornell, 2-2, Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y.

Senior forward Alex Killorn scored the game-tying goal with 7:43 left in the historic rivalry’s second meeting of the season. After receiving the puck from junior Marshall Everson, Colin Blackwell passed to Killorn, who was alone in the slot. The senior’s goal gave the Crimson (4-6-8, 3-4-6 ECAC) its fourth draw in six games.

“[Cornell is] always tough, especially at home,” said assistant captain and forward Daniel Moriarty. “Getting down early is never good, but it showed a lot of character in us battling back like that.”

The game went into overtime, but Harvard wasn’t able to convert on its four shots—the only ones in the extra period—and extended its school record for ties in a single season.

“Yesterday was one of our better games in terms of playing a full 60 minutes,” junior forward David Valek said. “That was definitely a step forward in turning these ties into wins.”

The Big Red (11-4-4, 8-1-3) was the first on the board when Joel Lowry’s shot from the left side beat Crimson freshman goalie Stephen Michalek nine minutes into the first period. The goal, which deflected off a defender’s stick, was assisted by defensemen Mathieu Brisson and captain Keir Ross.

Harvard knotted the score at one with a power-play goal by Everson, who redirected junior Danny Biega’s shot past the Big Red netminder at the 18:15 mark. It also marked the eighth time in the Crimson’s last nine games in which it scored on its first power play of the game.

With a goal and an assist, Everson completed his third straight two-point game.

“Marshall’s played hard for us all year, and he’s been rewarded in the last couple games with big goals,” Moriarty said.

Throughout the second period, Harvard had its chances to score, including a Blackwell shot that clanged off the crossbar. The Crimson also failed to convert on two consecutive power plays.

Thwarting many of Harvard’s scoring chances, Big Red goalie Andy Iles was rock-solid in net, saving 31 Crimson shots, including 11 on the power play.

“Iles is obviously a great goalie,” Valek said. “He’s really fast moving side to side. I think he’s definitely one of the better goalies in the league.”

Blackwell had another good chance in the second, this time on the breakaway after Cornell freshman Joakim Ryan turned the puck over at the blue line. But the Crimson rookie’s backhand shot was stopped by the glove of Iles.

Soon after the second straight power play ended for Harvard, the Crimson was penalized for too many men on the ice.  Taking advantage of this mistake, Big Red freshman Ryan put a one-timer from Greg Miller past Michalek’s glove side midway through the second, putting Cornell up, 2-1.

After Harvard drew even in the third, it was able to gain momentum as the Big Red seemed to play more tentatively. But in the end, the Crimson could not snap Cornell’s nation-leading seven-game unbeaten streak.

Harvard had some more chances in the final minutes, but Iles again stepped up, saving 13 in the final frame. The Big Red goaltender stopped an open shot by Killorn at 1:23 and corralled a quick shot off the ensuing face-off from freshman Patrick McNally.

Junior Luke Greiner led the Crimson with 12 face-off wins, while Killorn led the team with eight shots in the game.

Throughout the contest, Harvard, which leads all Division I schools with a 34.7 percent success rate on the man-advantage, was able to convert only one of its five power-plays. But the team believes it wasn’t a matter of a problem in the power play.

“I think our power play overall did a pretty good job,” Valek said. “We just weren’t lucky enough to get one more. I think the opportunities were there, but unfortunately the goals didn’t come.”

Although the Crimson outshot the Big Red, 33-19, Harvard had to come back in this one to draw the strong Cornell squad.

“We’ve had a lot of close games this year, a lot of ties, which is encouraging in one aspect,” Moriarty said. “But on the other end of it, we want to come through and start winning the big games. So in order for us to do that we have to keep playing hard for 60, 65 minutes, and make the chances go our way with continued effort throughout the entire game.”

—Staff writer David Mazza can be reached at damazza@college.harvard.edu.