Top Line Leads Men's Hockey Back into Win Column Against Colgate

HAMILTON, N.Y.—Coming off a four-goal defeat at the hands of last-place Clarkson last weekend, Harvard men’s hockey coach Ted Donato elected to shake up his lines Friday night, even sending his second line out to take the opening faceoff against Colgate at Starr Rink.

But amid all the skipper’s mixing and matching, the line making the most noise was the one that remained untouched. Top-liners Alex Kerfoot, Kyle Criscuolo, and Jimmy Vesey all lit the lamp for the Crimson, lifting No. 9/8 Harvard (10-4-3, 6-3-3 ECAC) to a 4-2 win over the Raiders (7-15-2, 3-7-2).

“That was absolutely a huge win for us,” junior forward Sean Malone said. “Losing three of our last four, we knew we had to come out and get the job done tonight and get the two points.”

“I thought we played more to our identity than we have in the last few games,” Donato ’91 added.

With the score knotted at two midway through the second, Criscuolo’s 100th career point put the Crimson ahead for good. Less than 30 seconds into Harvard’s first power play of the night, junior defenseman Victor Newell fed senior left wing Colin Blackwell atop the left circle, and the fifth-year forward blasted a shot toward goaltender Charlie Finn.

Standing in the netminder’s line of vision, however, was Criscuolo, who tipped home the shot while jawing for position with defenseman Jake Kulevich, lifting the co-captain to the century mark and putting the Crimson in front, 3-2.

The assist from Blackwell, meanwhile, was one of two on the night for the North Andover native, who also set up Malone for Harvard’s first goal of the night just over three minutes into the contest.

Blackwell darted up the left wing before putting the brakes on atop the left circle, but rookie defenseman Ken Citron gave the senior no room to work with as he looked to get a shot away. After failing twice, Blackwell crashed to the ice, but not before managing to nudge the puck with his stick down the slot.

Waiting atop the crease was Malone—promoted to second-line center for Friday’s tilt—who took control of the slow-moving puck. Moving from right to left on the goalmouth, the Sabres draft pick slid his way around Finn and put home his fourth goal of the season from the goaltender’s right post.

“I thought Sean was a major factor all game using his speed,” Donato said. “We want to have a lot of depth to our offense, and certainly tonight with the way Sean was going and the way Colin Blackwell was going, it really makes us a much more dangerous team.”

Just over a minute after Malone put the Crimson on the board, Colgate’s captain retaliated. Initiating the attack in the Harvard end, sophomore forward Mike Panowyk sent defenseman Victor Newell to the ground with a shifty move along the right wing, giving the second-liner space to send a centering pass to his left.

Amid a sea of surrounding sticks, captain Mike Borkowski won the battle for the puck on the doorstep, grabbing it and backhanding a shot past goaltender Merrick Madsen to even the score at one.

Borkowski was far from finished. Kerfoot sent the Crimson into the first intermission with a 2-1 edge after batting home a second-chance opportunity in front of Finn at 7:30, but the second-line center equalized yet again less than a minute into the middle frame.

Taking a cross-ice pass from junior defenseman Brett Corkey low inside the right circle, Borkowski beat Madsen without a defenseman in sight, moving the captain into the team lead with 11 goals on the year—one ahead of senior forward Tyson Spink, who leads the Raiders with 25 points on the season.

But ultimately it was Harvard’s pair of captains who clinched a victory. Criscuolo’s 13th goal of the season gave the Crimson its third one-goal edge of the night, and an empty-netter from Vesey at 19:17 put the cap on the visitors’ 4-2 victory.

With the goal, Vesey extended his point streak to seven games despite his second consecutive night with just two shots. He now sits just one goal and one point shy of No. 1/1 Quinnipiac’s Sam Anas for first in the ECAC in both categories.

While Harvard’s top point-getter had a quiet night in the shot department, the Crimson generated 39 as a team—its fourth-highest output this season—to Colgate’s 27. Harvard now sits third in the conference, one point ahead of No. 10/10 Cornell, whom the Crimson will meet Saturday night at Lynah Rink.

—Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jake.meagher@thecrimson.com.