Criscuolo and Vesey Connect Late to Lift Men's Hockey Past Colgate on Senior Night

For all intents and purposes, Senior Night will not be the final game the Crimson’s eldest class suits up for within the confines of the Bright-Landry Hockey Center—the No. 13/13 Harvard men’s hockey team is guaranteed at least one home series in the ECAC tournament. But regardless, on a night where the senior class was honored for its four years donning Crimson, the squad’s two most decorated seniors rose to the occasion.

With the game knotted at four goals apiece and less than three minutes left in regulation against 11th place Colgate, co-captain Jimmy Vesey corralled the puck off a blocked shot in the offensive zone. The senior drifted towards the net and found fellow co-captain Kyle Criscuolo alone outside the crease, standing by the far post.

Kyle Criscuolo's goal was set up by Jimmy Vesey, who also scored twice on Saturday to up his season total to 20. By Margaret F. Ross

Criscuolo then shoveled it past Raider goaltender Bruce Racine to give Harvard a one-goal lead that it would not surrender. Senior forward Colin Blackwell and Vesey also added last-minute goals to seal a 7-4 win for the Crimson (15-8-4, 11-5-4 ECAC) over the Raiders (8-22-2, 4-14-2) on Saturday.

“[Senior Night] is such a great night, an emotional night,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “It just obviously makes it a lot more enjoyable when…we take care of business and get the win. It’s the right way for these guys to play their last regular season home game here.”

Coming out of the second intermission tied at three goals apiece, it looked as if junior Tyler Moy may have found the goal to put the Crimson ahead for good. Sophomore Seb Lloyd drove down the left side of the ice and found a streaking Moy, sending a puck across the middle that ricocheted off the junior’s skate and through the five-hole of Racine with 10:55 left in the third period.

But for the second straight night, after taking a one-goal lead in the third period, the advantage soon dissipated. Harvard failed to control a puck in its own zone along the boards, allowing junior Tim Harrison to skate free and find senior Tylor Spink on the doorstep. The senior faked a forehand shot to displace sophomore goaltender Merrick Madsen before equalizing with a backhand finish for his second goal of game less than a minute after Moy’s tally.

“We were playing with fire a little bit,” Vesey said. “We definitely want to get leads and then build on them. That’s something we’ll be working on.”

Colgate nearly forced the fourth tie of the night with just 70 seconds left in the game. Raider captain MIke Borkowski came in alone on Madsen, but the sophomore netminder was able to get his body on the puck and direct it over the net to protect the lead.

“Merrick came up with a couple big saves at the end,” Donato said. “We were able to find a way. We were resilient.”

While the game came down to the wire, it appeared early as if Harvard would assert control. On the Crimson’s first man-advantage of the game—thanks to a cross-checking call drawn by senior forward Greg Gozzo—three more seniors provided Harvard’s first offensive spark. Blackwell found co-captain Kyle Criscuolo at the bottom of the left circle; then the co-captain pivoted and sent a backhand pass to Vesey just above the crease, and the Crimson’s leading scorer beat goaltender Charlie Finn over the right shoulder to open the scoring 7:57 into the contest.

Harvard's seven seniors were recognized alongside their families after Saturday night's game. By Y. Kit Wu

Less than three minutes later, Harvard added its second goal of the game. With just seconds remaining on a roughing penalty against Moy, sophomore Jake Horton intercepted a pass at the point and made his way into the offensive zone on an odd-man rush. He found junior Luke Esposito above the right circle, and the second-line center fired a shot that Finn slowed down but could not stop, as the puck trickled to the back of the net to give the Crimson a two-goal cushion. That shot would be the last Finn faced on the night, as he was immediately pulled in favor of Racine.

But just as it looked as if Harvard would assert control over the game, Tylor Spink’s first score of the night thwarted Harvard’s growing momentum. The Williamstown, Ont., native collected a rebound just to the left of Madsen and lifted the puck over the Flyers prospect’s outstretched left pad to cut the Crimson’s early lead to one.

Just over five minutes later, Darcy Murphy provided the equalizer that erased Harvard's early two-goal advantage. Off a Crimson turnover in its offensive zone, defenseman Willie Brooks found a streaking Murphy with space down the right wing. The senior picked his spot and threw a wrister on net, beating Madsen stick-side to knot the game up at two.

While the Harvard defense did concede four goals, it held strong on Colgate’s three power play opportunities, limiting the Raiders to one shot over three goalless efforts, including one early in the third period while the game was still tied.

Junior center Alexander Kerfoot recorded his team-leading 26th assist of the year on Colin Blackwell's empty netter in the game's final minute. By Margaret F. Ross

“It wasn’t always pretty,” Vesey said. “But at the end of the day, we got it done and got the two points which moved us closer to a first-round bye.”

The Crimson now needs just one more point to secure a bye and home ice in the ECAC tournament quarterfinals.

In what will be his last regular season game at the Bright, senior goaltender Peter Traber saw his first action in net on the year, playing the last 39 seconds of the contest.

“We would have loved to break [the game] open and get [Traber] some more time,” Vesey said. “But we’re fired up that he got to get in at the end.”

Gozzo also saw his first minutes of the year as a member of the fourth line.

“He’s such a positive and emotional guy on the bench,” Donato said. “He fights for every inch and represents the type attitude we want our guys to have.”

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