Men's Hockey Mounts Comeback in OT Win at BU

Having entered Wednesday night’s game at Agganis Arena winless in its last six games, the Harvard men’s hockey team scored four straight goals en route to a comeback victory against No. 8 Boston University.

Down by three goals at two separate points in the contest, at 3-0 in the second period and 5-2 entering the third, the Crimson was able to storm back and tie the game up at five before regulation time ended.

Sophomore forward Colin Blackwell knotted the score with less than four minutes left in the third, taking advantage his own dump pass mishandled by Terrier goalie Matt O’Connor.

The teams traded opportunities in the extra frame before Harvard put the game away. Sophomore Tommy O’Regan, whose younger brother Danny suited up for the Terriers, scored one goal and assisted two others, including the game-winner. O'Regan passed puck up the ice to senior Connor Morrison, who found himself all alone in front of the net and sent a slap-shot past O’Connor for his first goal of the season.

“Obviously we are pretty excited to get the win,” Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “I think a lot of our guys just stayed with it, we put ourselves behind the eight-ball early, but we were getting chances.”

On the other side, BU coach Jack Parker was less pleased with his team's performance.

“I thought the way we played in the third period was a disgrace,” Parker said. “I thought the way Harvard played in the third period was a feather in their cap. They played so hard and they kept coming after us. But we just made it easier for them with the way that we played.”

Entering the third period down three goals, Harvard slowly edged its way back after some motivation from the coach and some upperclassmen at intermission.

“We got a little momentum, after the second we got a little fired up in the locker room,” O’Regan said. “We just said we are going to come out and we are going to win this game. We had a couple big goals and a big one at the end to tie it up and I think we just kept it buzzing into overtime.”

The Crimson began to claw its way back in the third with goals at 6:38 and 8:45 from seniors Marshall Everson and Luke Greiner – the latter on a power paly - before Blackwell evened the score.

BU outshot Harvard on the game, 43-35, while Crimson junior goalie Raphael Girard stopped 38 to O’Connor's 35.

O’Regan added two assists and a goal, matching his brother’s point total in the first contest between the two at the collegiate level.

“[Danny] got the [second] goal for them,” the elder O’Regan said. “It kind of lit a fire under me a little bit. Either way in just the game itself I was trying to compete as hard as I could…I tried not to make eye contact; I just wanted to focus on the game.”

“[Danny] got three points. His brother got three points. His brother got the win, so it was a pretty good game for his brother,” Parker added. “It was a nice game for the O’Regan family.”

Greiner recorded two assists in addition to his goal. Freshman Brian Hart also scored on the power play, giving Harvard two power play goals in three opportunities on the night.

BU opened the scoring the first frame with goals from freshman forwards Wesley Myron and Danny O’Regan on rebound opportunities.

Later, Wade Megan showed persistence with a goal near the right crease on his second attempt on a rebound just 50 seconds into the second period.

“They won a lot of battles at the front of our net,” Donato said. “Anytime you get three or four whacks before you score - those are goals we need to eliminate”

But Harvard finally responded at 2:29 in the second period. O’Regan received the puck from junior defenseman John Caldwell and sent a wrist shot from center through the legs of O’Connor.

The Crimson cut the lead to one with the power play goal by Hart, but the Terriers' Matt Nieto scored a goal about a minute later that Donato called a “bit of a heartbreaker,” killing some Harvard momentum.

O’Regan of BU added another goal to make it 5-2 before the Crimson scored four unanswered goals on the way its highest total since the six it scored against Cornell in the semifinals of the ECAC playoffs last year.

“It’s a nice win for us and will hopefully springboard a lot of positive energy for the team,” Donato said.

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