Harvard Splits First Homestand Since Belfast, Looks Ahead to Quinnipiac

Updated December 8, 2024, at 12:01 a.m.

In a final push before the end of the year, the Harvard men’s ice hockey team (3-5-1, 2-3-1 ECAC) nearly mounted a late comeback against Clarkson (10-5-2, 4-1-0 ECAC) on Friday night, dropping the game 4-3, before quickly turning around and defeating St. Lawrence (5-11-0, 1-4-0 ECAC) 1-0 in the first round of the shootout on Saturday, adding two crucial points to the Crimson’s season total.

Harvard 3, Clarkson 4

The Knights controlled play on Harvard's home ice for much of the game, outpacing the Crimson in shot attempts by 12 and putting constant pressure on Harvard’s defense as the Crimson struggled to keep possession in its offensive charges.

Despite Harvard taking the lead with a goal from junior forward Casey Severo in the first seconds of the second period — his fourth over the past two games — the Knights pulled ahead in the middle of the game with three unanswered goals.

Senior Clarkson forward Ayrton Martino put in an especially dominant performance, scoring twice in the second period.

Even with momentum swinging strongly in Clarkson’s favor, freshman goalie Ben Charette withheld most of the Knights’ attacks and Harvard entered the third period with a two point deficit.

A little more than nine minutes into the third period, junior forward Marek Hejduk scored and brought Harvard back into the game. With less than six minutes left, a penalty against Clarkson gave Harvard a power play opportunity.

Unable to capitalize on the chance, the Crimson went all in on an offensive push, leaving an empty net for the Knights, who answered the challenge with another goal. In the final seconds of the game and trying to overcome a 4-2 deficit, Harvard managed one final goal courtesy of sophomore Cam Johnson. But by that point, it was too late for the Crimson to even up the score.

Harvard 1, St. Lawrence 0 (SO)

Saturday proved to be a competitive contest between Harvard, a team with just two wins in the last seven games, and St. Lawrence, who just last night beat the No. 13/14 Dartmouth Big Green 3-2.

Giving thoughts after the game, Head Coach Ted Donato explained, “We dug in there. We were able to get the extra point. I thought we got a really excellent performance by Ben Charette, which he carried on into overtime and into the shootout.”

Though the Crimson struggled to control the puck early in the period, it still came out the stronger shooting team, quickly jumping out to a 7-1 lead in shots on goal.

Closing in on the second half of the period, St. Lawrence strung together several good chances close to the net, but they did not deter Charette.

Reflecting on his time at the Friendship Four tournament in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Charette remarked, “It was a little nerve wracking going in for my first collegiate start kind of in the way that I did, but it was like I had full faith in the team that they're gonna play well in front of me.”

Senior captain and defenseman Ian Moore assisted on many of these tries. He fought hard to bump-off players looking to receive the cross-ice pass before skating up ice quickly to set up the offense.

In just his fourth game of his Harvard hockey career, Charette now splits his record with two wins and two losses since opening play against Notre Dame in the Friendly Four tournament.

“He came in the first game and then started against Merrimack. Played very well, though,” said Donato. “He played well last night, and … earned another start. And obviously, can't play much better than he played tonight.”

“Congrats to him for working his way through the last month and a half. And waiting to get his turn and really taking advantage of it.”

Despite the late-period surge for the Saints, St. Lawrence senior defenseman and captain Drake Burgin took an untimely holding penalty. On the delayed call, Harvard pulled Charette and gave the Crimson several seconds of 6-on-5 play earning the team multiple shots of its own.

The power play was ultimately unsuccessful for Harvard entering the next period.

The middle period saw a notable jump in intensity as both teams made massive hits against the boards and sometimes over opponent benches, trying to gain an edge in a scoreless game.

Harvard, however, was riskier in its play, appearing to want the first goal more. But this also cost them on the penalty sheet. Harvard was charged with three penalties.

The first occurred at 15:20 and the last at 2:38. All three were successfully killed off by the Crimson thanks to superb poke-checking skills by junior defenseman Ryan Healey.

Fellow junior forward Joe Miller, on the two penalties Miller was on the ice for after drawing the second team penalty, also contributed to the kill.

In addition to the play getting more physical, multiple scrums broke out after the whistle as teams sensed the urgency to score.

With the clock winding down in regulation, pucks rang off the boards and came loose out from under both goaltenders. In the final few minutes of the game, a puck ended up just outside the goal line of St. Lawrence’s net.

After a scoreless overtime, sophomore forward Cam Johnson scored on Harvard’s third shootout attempt and Charette defended against St. Lawrence’s last shot.

Continuing on the success and hoping to start the game quicker after a long stretch of travel after Belfast, the Crimson played one game at Bright-Landry against No. 18 Quinnipiac on January 1 at 7:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Nate Bolan can be reached at nate.bolan@thecrimson.com.
—Staff writer Owen Butler can be reached at owen.butler@thecrimson.com.