Men's Hockey Snaps Four-Game Skid With Win Over Colgate

While the postponement of Monday’s Beanpot consolation game may have been a nuisance for fans of the No. 14/13 Harvard men’s ice hockey team, it was a blessing in disguise for the Crimson.

After playing over 200 minutes of hockey the previous week, Harvard (13-8-2, 9-6-2 ECAC) came out rested and energized in its first appearance of February at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. The Crimson’s two first-period goals set the tone for the night, as Harvard never looked back en route to a 4-1 victory over Colgate (15-11-3, 7-7-3), snapping a four-game losing skid in the process.

While sophomore forward Sean Malone did not play in the teams’ first matchup back in January, he made sure his presence was felt on Friday night.

Junior co-captain Kyle Criscuolo flicked a pass to the Buffalo Sabres prospect, and Malone took over from there. The second-year star sent a pass off the right boards for himself, collected it, and drove to the net before passing it over to classmate Luke Esposito, who finished with a backhand to give the Crimson a two-goal cushion.

“It’s the first time I’ve played with Esposito and Moy [on the second line],” Malone said. “We’re all three centers, [so] it’s an interesting mix. [But] I think we showed up tonight.”

The goal from Esposito came on his first shot in nearly a month after the sophomore sat out his last five games due to injury, including the team's commanding 6-1 victory over the Raiders on Jan. 24.

“We had a lot of chances to score some prettier goals,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “We made some nice plays. Looing at the goals that we did score, we shot the puck and drove the net.”

Sophomore forward Tyler Moy added some insurance for the Crimson with one second remaining in the second period. Junior forward Jimmy Vesey held the puck just to the right of the crease before sending it over to a streaking Moy, who went to one knee and batted it home to put his side up three goals.

Colgate had a chance to strike early in the game when freshman Seb Lloyd was called for holding at the 2:53 mark in the first. But the Raiders surrendered three shots while generating only one of their own before Colgate defenseman Kevin Lough was called for holding with 39 seconds remaining on the advantage.

Instead, Malone opened the scoring. After his first shot missed left, the sophomore received a favorable bounce off the back boards and finished top shelf over the shoulder of Raider goaltender Zac Hamilton at the 8:38 mark in the first. Since returning to the ice on Feb. 3, Malone has scored or assisted on half of Harvard’s goals.

The Crimson had had trouble generating power plays during its four-game losing streak, averaging less than three attempts per game.  Nonetheless, Harvard forced three Colgate penalties in the first period alone and five overall, even though the team was unable to turn those chances into goals.

“I think we had to really penetrate the tougher areas of the ice around the net,” Donato sad. “We didn’t score on the power play tonight, but the third goal was essentially a power play goal.”

Sophomore forward Phil Zielonka added a goal midway through the third. The second-year player cut from right to left across the slot, getting Hamilton to move to his right before nipping twine over the first-year goalie’s left shoulder.

The Raiders had no problems generating man-advantage opportunities, either. But the Crimson penalty kill stopped four of the five chances that their special teams unit had. Colgate sophomore Tim Harrison was able to net a goal with 14 minutes left in the third, but it was too little, too late for the Raiders.

While Harvard was able to end a losing skid with the win, Colgate’s troubles continued. The Raiders have only won one of their past seven games, with that victory coming against ECAC cellar-dweller Princeton. After being ranked for all of 2015, Colgate fell out of the national U.S. College Hockey Online rankings for the first time this past week.

—Staff writer Kurt T. Bullard can be reached at kurt.bullard@thecrimson.com.