Harvard Defeats Dartmouth 6-3 in Final Tuneup for Beanpot Title Game

The No. 10 Harvard men’s hockey team headed north to Hanover, N.H. to take on the Dartmouth Big Green for their last Ivy League matchup of the season Friday night. The Crimson successfully brought a 6-3 win back to Cambridge, finalizing Harvard’s Ivy League record for the year at 9-1, almost perfect excluding a road loss to Brown University on January 21st. Junior forward Sean Farrell, who ranks second in the country in points per game behind Michigan’s Adam Fantilli, had a career-high five points on the night.

“It was a hard fought game. We expected as much. Dartmouth has played very well lately,” head coach Ted Donato ’91 commented. “We were able to pull away a little bit in the third and I thought there were a lot of good things, and I thought our guys were excited to be able to win a game and stay focused before the Beanpot.”

With a number of injuries piling up, the Crimson’s lineup looked slightly different than normal on Friday night. Notably missing from action was senior defenseman and captain Henry Thrun, who plays on the top defensive pair in addition to quarterbacking the team’s first power play unit. Also absent was first-year forward Casey Severo, a typical third-liner, who had yet to miss a game this season. Both were injured in last Monday’s Beanpot semifinal against the Boston College Eagles.

“I think that we're hopeful that we'll get both at the back,” Donato said. “I think that one of them will be [out] much shorter than the other.”

In place of Thrun, sophomore defenseman Christian Jimenez stepped in as the seventh defender, dressing for his fourth game of the season. Junior forward Ryan Drkulec got the look in place of Severo, taking the left wing slot of the third line along senior forward and captain Baker Shore and first-year forward Marek Hejduk, the hero of Monday’s Beanpot semifinals.

Out of the gate, advantage went to the Crimson, as first-year forward Joe Miller was thrown into the boards by Dartmouth’s Sean Chisholm prior to Harvard’s first line change, sending the visiting team to the power play. The hi twas further reviewed to determine if it qualified for a five minute major penalty, but was confirmed to be a boarding minor. The Crimson were unable to take advantage, only putting one shot on goal in the two-minute stretch.

After dominating possession for the following five minutes, Harvard lost the puck after Dartmouth’s Joey Musa blocked sophomore defenseman Jack Bar’s shot, and Musa then dished the puck to teammate Cooper Flinton, who fed a Chisholm breakaway. Chisholm breezed past first-year defender Ryan Healey, giving himself a clear lane to take a shot on senior goaltender Mitchell Gibson. Gibson, who entered the game 4-0 in his career against the Big Green, had initial control of the puck, but lost it as it followed down his extended right leg to just barely cross the goal line, giving Dartmouth the 1-0 lead.

It didn’t take long for Harvard to add one of their own in response. Just over a minute later, Drkulec took advantage of dressing for just his fourth game this season, notching his second goal of the campaign. Assisted by linemates Shore and Hejduk, Drkulec’s tally continued the recent trend of the third and fourth lines contributing points at pivotal moments, following Hejduk’s big Beanpot performance.

The remainder of the period provided chances for both teams, though Harvard outshot the Big Green nine to four. The closest the Crimson came to finding the twine was an opportunity for Miller beautifully set up by Coronato with eight minutes left in the period, with Farrell waiting on the doorstep for the rebound. However, Dartmouth goalkeeper Cooper Black denied Miller and subsequently cleared the puck, neutralizing the opportunity.

The second period was defined by penalties. In total, there were six power play opportunities, four for the Crimson and two for Big Green, with only one repeat offender spending time in the box (Dartmouth defender Tanner Palocisk, first for slashing and later tripping). The first three penalties of the period went in favor of Harvard. Failing to capitalize on the first, the Crimson found themselves back on the man advantage not a minute after returning to even strength play. Harvard was buzzing on their second power play, putting up 11 shots, six on goal, before junior forward Alex Laferriere finally broke through Black, scoring at 6:37 into the second. Nabbing the assists were sophomore defenseman Ian Moore and Farrell.

The Harvard power play unit celebrates a goal against Cornell on January 28th. The Crimson power play recorded two goals on Friday against Dartmouth. By Dylan J. Goodman

The Crimson was tamed on its third consecutive power play opportunity, again only recording one shot during the stretch. Harvard went to the penalty kill not two minutes later, with Hejduk spending time in the box for tripping. The Big Green capitalized on its first advantage of the night, with forward Braiden Dorfman recording the goal after a deflection off of Gibson’s glove.

Following Dartmouth’s tying goal, the Crimson found its rhythm again, regaining the edge in play. After a series of strong chances off the rush, Laferriere took a stick to the skates, sending Harvard once again to the power play. Maintaining an aggressive mentality on the man advantage, the Crimson kept the shots coming, and not a minute into the penalty, senior forward and captain John Farinacci got a second look at a Laferriere rebound, burying the chance and giving Harvard a 3-2 lead.

“The power play scoring two goals was huge. It needs to be a weapon for us and keep teams from hooking and holding, make them pay for it when they do,” said Donato regarding the power play’s success. “I think the two powerplay goals were very big for us.”

The remaining five minutes of the period included a successful penalty kill by the Crimson, including a short-handed Laferriere breakaway that was denied by Black at point-blank range.

“We were playing well five-on-five. We were able to get those two power play goals at good times,” Farrell said. “We were pretty happy with where we were in the second and knew we just had to keep doing the same thing.”

Harvard wasted no time adding to its lead in the third. Just over a minute into the period, Miller sent a rocket over the left blocker of Black after a beautiful dime by Farrell found him at the point. However, the Big Green responded shortly thereafter with a power play goal after Hejduk was called for interference. After Shore lost the faceoff to Chisholm following the penalty, Dartmouth forward Luke Haymes sent his own bullet over Gibson's right shoulder, cutting the Big Green deficit to one..

“The two [Dartmouth power play] goals kept them in the game,” Donato mentioned. “[The penalty kill is] something that will look to improve.”

Following the tally, Harvard regrouped, putting together another aggressive offensive drive. Putting up nine shots in two and a half minutes, the Crimson forced Big Green head coach Reid Cashman to use his timeout to give his players a breather. However, the break proved to work in Harvard’s favor rather than Dartmouth's.. The dynamic duo of Coronato and Farrell combined for another goal shortly after the timeout, as Coronato set up Farrell for a great finish.

Possession continued to be controlled by the Crimson, and the Big Green pulled Black for the additional attacker with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Though Gibson and the defense faced a sequence of six consecutive shots, Farrell picked up a blocked pass and found the empty net, securing the 6-3 victory while also recording his career-high fifth point of the night.

“I'm just trying to find the best play available and get it to whoever’s open. I play with really good linemates and on a really good power play,” Farrell emphasized. “Those guys find me in the right places too.”

“He's relentless on the puck. He's played a lot of the year with Matt Coronato – together they turn the puck over and they stay on pucks,” Donato said. “Sean is a gifted offensive player and he can both beat you with his shot and he can beat you with deception and passing skills. It's been fun to watch it. Obviously, it's been a huge part of our success.”

Junior forward Sean Farrell carries the puck against Cornell on January 28th. Farrell recorded a career-high five points on Friday night against Dartmouth. By Dylan J. Goodman

Looking forward, Harvard will face the No. 20/17 Northeastern Huskies in the Championship Game of the Beanpot Tournament on Monday at 7:30pm at T.D. Garden. The Northeastern/Harvard matchup is the first time in the tournament’s 70 year history that the two have faced each other in the Championship, where the Crimson will play for the 12th Beanpot title in program history and its first trophy since 2017.

“It's a dream of every young hockey player in Massachusetts growing up,” Farrell said. “It was amazing for me to experience it last Monday and playing in the championship this Monday is going to be really special and we're all really excited.”

The Huskies advanced from the semifinal last week after beating the favored No. 3 Boston University Terriers behind an outstanding performance from goalie Devon Levi, who stopped 32 of 33 shots on goal. Levi ranks third in the country with a .930 save percentage.

However, Harvard posted eight goals against Levi in the teams’ regular season matchup on New Year’s Day, with six different Crimson players scoring in the 8-4 win

Jiminez and Drkulec suited up for that game, and it was against Northeastern that Drkulec scored his first of the season. With the status of Thrun and Severo unknown, it is possible that both Jiminez and Drkulec could dress on Monday.

Also out of the lineup for the previous matchup was Farinacci, as he was still recovering from the upper-body injury that sidelined him for the first half of the season. Since his return, the Arizona Coyotes prospect has reclaimed his spot as one of Harvard’s best forwards, recording nine points in as many games, as well as being the strongest faceoff man for the Crimson.

“It's just an exciting opportunity, in a lot of ways. You think you play in the Beanpot, but until you get to play in the championship game you don’t really fully understand its meaning and the opportunity that's there,” Donato added. “I'm happy for our guys that we were able to get there and now we're focused on trying to bring our best game on Monday night to try to have success.”

– Staff writer Bridget T. Sands can be reached at bridget.sands@thecrimson.com