Men’s Hockey Scores Three Unanswered To Top Brown

For the second time in as many nights, the Harvard men’s hockey team appeared on the brink of losing or tying well into the third period.

But once again, the Crimson managed to secure the victory in dramatic fashion. And on Saturday’s contest against Brown, it was once again senior forward Alex Killorn whose goal pushed Harvard over the top.

The previous night against Yale, Killorn had broken a 3-3 deadlock with just over a minute left.

Down one to Brown at the start of the final period, the Crimson rallied, and Killorn’s score with 7:42 left on the clock in the third period put Harvard ahead, 2-1. A final goal late in the frame after Brown had pulled its goalie gave the Crimson the 3-1 victory at Bright Hockey Center.

“I don’t think it was our most energized effort for 60 minutes,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “I thought our guys came out and responded well in the third period. Once we got on the scoreboard, I thought we found our legs and found a little bit of energy.”

The win over the Bears (5-7-2, 8-10-3 ECAC)—coupled with Friday’s victory against the Bulldogs—moves Harvard (5-4-6, 6-6-8) into sole possession of fourth place in the ECAC standings.

Harvard’s offense on Saturday night struggled before the flurry of third-period goals, managing just one shot in the opening 12 minutes and 10 in the first two periods. Though Brown held the edge offensively in the opening frame, doubling Harvard’s shot total, neither team could pull ahead.

The Crimson didn’t do much better in the subsequent period, and though Brown scored, neither team held the clear edge.

“First 40 minutes was a weird game. It was almost like we were playing ping-pong out there,” Killorn said.

But Harvard’s offensive futility came to a sharp halt in the final frame, when three goals in 20 minutes sealed the Harvard win.

Senior forward Eric Kroshus led the Crimson in scoring on Saturday, assisting on Killorn’s goal and finding the back of the net himself at the start of the third period to tie both teams at one.

“He’s been huge for us as of late,” Killorn said of Kroshus. “Not even on his goals and assists, but all game. He played hard, he got the puck in deep, he was doing everything to spark our team. And once he got that goal, it really did change the game.”

Junior defenseman Danny Biega scored the third and final Crimson goal when his long shot down the ice found an empty Bears net.

But none of the Harvard scores came on its vaunted power play. For just the second time in 20 contests, Harvard failed to score at least once with a man advantage.

Freshman goaltender Steve Michalek anchored a strong Crimson defensive effort, as the rookie stopped 24 of the 25 shots that came his away, good for a .960 save percentage.

After the scoreless first period, both attacks loosened up with the opening of the middle frame, but it was the Bears who struck first. Just 3:34 in, Brown forward Francis Drolet skated behind the Harvard goal to Michalek’s left. The junior then crossed the puck inside to Jarred Smith, who drilled a one-timer past Michalek to give the visitors the lead.

Six minutes later, Harvard picked up its first power play of the night after Richie Crowley earned a roughing call when he blindsided Killorn. But the Crimson couldn’t seize the man advantage, failing to register a shot on goal in the two minutes.

The Crimson came back onto the ice for the final period reinvigorated and rapidly evened the score at one apiece.

“We were a little sluggish in the first two periods,” Kroshus said. “[Donato] came in and said, ‘We’re down one, we played pretty badly for 40 minutes, but we can make up for it with 20 minutes.’ So there wasn’t much to say before. We came out and gave it our all.”

Just over four minutes into the period, junior forward David Valek skated down the left side of the ice before circling behind the Bears goal. In anticipation of a wraparound attempt, Clemente shifted to his right, and Valek weaved the puck through two Brown defenders to Kroshus. With a good look on goal, Kroshus nailed the equalizer.

Killorn gave Harvard the lead seven minutes later. After taking the pass near the left faceoff circle, Killorn skated to his left before firing a shot that clanged off the post and into the net.

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