Harvard Splits Two Games in Belfast at Friendship Four Tournament

Last weekend, the Harvard men’s ice hockey team (3-4-1, 2-2-1 ECAC) made its way across the pond to Belfast, Northern Ireland to play in the Friendship Four Tournament along with Boston University (8-5-1, 4-2-1 HEA), Notre Dame (6-10-0, 1-7-0 Big 10), and Merrimack College (3-9-1, 2-5-1 HEA). Harvard played the Fighting Irish on Friday and the Warriors on Saturday, picking up a loss and a win, respectively.

Harvard 2, Notre Dame 5

On Friday afternoon, Harvard and Notre Dame met for the first time since 2015, a game which the Crimson won. But, after meeting for the first time in nearly a decade, the Fighting Irish was able to level the score and clinch a win against the Boston team.

Much like its namesake, the Fighting Irish was ready to fight from the first while. Notre Dame came out fast to begin the game, controlling much of the offense and shot generation. Its situation only improved when Harvard captain Zakary Karpa received the first penalty for tripping. Less than a minute into the power play, sophomore forward Cole Knuble took the puck below the goal line and found graduate forward Blake Biondi in the slot, who one-timed it past Koskenvuo to take an early lead for the Irish.

The sides evened out as the period progressed, with both teams finding their fair share of offensive opportunities. Yet, it was Notre Dame who would strike again in the final quarter of the period. On a faceoff in the Crimson’s zone, the puck was won back to freshman defenseman Jaedon Kerr who fired a shot from the point that was difficult for Koskenvuo to get eyes on as it sailed over his left shoulder, extending the lead to 2-0.

A 3-0 start was on the horizon as the Irish didn’t wait long to strike again. Less than a minute after the previous goal, a shot from sophomore defenseman Paul Fischer rebounded off of Koskenvuo, and the puck was picked up by Biondi and buried to extend the lead by yet another goal.

As the clock wound down on the first period, Harvard headed back to its locker room looking to work through its kinks. At the start of the second, freshman goalie Ben Charette stepped in for Koskenvuo. Perhaps it was this change in personnel, but a new fire was ignited beneath the Crimson as it stormed the ice.

It didn’t take long for the Crimson to strike in the second. Less than two minutes into the slate, an errant shot from sophomore forward Ben MacDonald bounced awkwardly off the boards behind the net where junior forward Joe Miller was able to pick it up and tuck it in before Notre Dame goalie Owen Say was able to lay eyes on the scrambling puck. The goal cut down the Irish lead, bringing the score to 3-1.

More than that, though, it served as a much-needed shift in momentum.

Harvard continued to dominate play throughout the second, winning faceoffs and generating shots on goal. This sustained pressure paid off, when just a few minutes after the first goal, a botched breakout pass hit off of a Notre Dame forward and landed on the stick of sophomore forward Cam Johnson. Johnson skated the puck in a few steps and fired a shot from the top of the faceoff circles, putting it over the glove of Say and into the back of the net to bring the score to 3-2.

The period once again evened out as it progressed, with both teams getting large bursts of offense, but to no avail on either side. The teams returned to their locker rooms after the period ended, knowing the next goal would be a big one.

Both sides fought hard to begin the third, with neither looking as though it was going to give in. However, the standstill was eventually broken in the latter half of the period when freshman forward Justin Solovey received a hitting-from-behind penalty, giving the Irish a power play opportunity. With less than five seconds remaining on the advantage, not one, but two shots were stopped by Charette before the subsequent rebound found senior forward Justin Janicke battling in front. The senior slapped the puck into the net to extend the Notre Dame lead once again to two goals, 4-2.

A momentum-changing play would be needed for the Crimson to find its way back into contention. The squad was not able to deliver, however, and Notre Dame was able to seal the final nails in the coffin.

With time ticking away in the final minutes of the game, Harvard Head Coach Ted Donato decided to pull Charette in an attempt to score with the man advantage and bring his team within one. But the Crimson was unable to come up with the goal, and Knuble found the empty net to extend the Irish lead to 5-2, and to seal the win.

Despite the loss, Harvard showed a lot of life in this game, especially during the second period, and looked to carry the momentum from this game into the next day’s matchup against Merrimack.

The squad will look to host its last homestand of the 2024 calendar year this upcoming weekend. By Courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications

Harvard 4, Merrimack 2

It would be a long trip home for Donato’s squad if his bench went 0-2 on the weekend. Thankfully, the team was able to redeem itself after the thrashing from Notre Dame and call the weekend a mixed success.

Building on its spurts of greatness against the tough Fighting Irish team, Harvard would need to string together three solid periods of hockey to handle another challenging team in Merrimack.

In order to do so, Donato relied on his freshman netminder.

Freshman goalie Ben Charette stood tall between the pipes once again against the Warriors, marking his first regular season start as a goalie for the Crimson. Replacing star junior Aku Koskenvuo, the freshman delivered.

Learning its lesson from Friday, the Crimson showed its might early, dictating much of the first period play and not allowing Merrimack to generate offensive momentum. Just a little past the halfway point of the first period, its efforts finally paid off.

After receiving a pass from junior forward Ryan Healey, Miller fired a shot towards the goal which found the stick of junior forward Casey Severo, who was screening sophomore goalie Max Lundgren, and tipped into the net, giving Harvard the early 1-0 lead.

Despite the team-effort play, its lead didn’t last long, however, with the Warriors striking back less than three minutes later, tying the game 1-1.

With the even score, possession settled between the two teams, with each taking turns striking and defending as the clock expired on the first period. Skating off the ice, the outcome of the first was certainly more positive than against Notre Dame, but the Crimson was once again ready to showcase its dominant style in the second.

The first few minutes of play were uneventful at the start of the second, with neither squad able to crack open the scoring.

But, all of that changed with about 10 minutes left on the clock.

As Harvard entered the zone in a three-on-two, Miller carried the puck up the right side of the ice before sliding a pass through traffic to Severo, who fired a shot past Lundgren, extending the Crimson’s lead to 2-1.

In similar fashion to the first period, Merrimack didn’t wait long to even up the score once again. After a shot from a senior defenseman Ivan Zivlak rebounded off the pad of Charette, sophomore forward David Sacco slid the puck to the slot, which deflected off the skate of Harvard defenseman Matthew Morden and into the net, tying the game 2-2.

Remaining at a gridlock, it would all come down to an eventful third period. Harvard would need to light a spark to go home victorious.

The Crimson wasted no time getting things going in the third period, scoring after just 19 seconds. After receiving a cross-ice pass from Healey, Miller entered the zone and fired a pass to Severo coming down the middle, who quickly shot it in the top left corner. This goal gave Severo his first career hat trick, and gave Harvard the lead once again. For his heroic effort against Merrimack, Severo earned the title of ECAC Forward of the Week.

A few minutes later, junior defenseman Trevor Griebel fumbled a routine pass out of the Warriors’ defensive zone, and the loose puck was picked up by Johnson, who carried it to the net, and roofed it to the top right corner to extend the lead to 4-2.

While Merrimack made a valiant effort in the back half of the third to make a comeback, it was too little too late, and the Crimson walked away with the win.

Harvard will look to continue this momentum next weekend as it returns home to the Bright-Landry Hockey Center for its last homestand of the 2024 calendar year. It will welcome Clarkson on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and St. Lawrence on Saturday 7:00 p.m.. Both games are available to be streamed on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Owen Butler can be reached at owen.butler@thecrimson.com