Harvard Men's Hockey Comes Up Short Against Cornell, Loses 3-1

In an early rivalry matchup, Harvard men’s ice hockey (1-1-1, 0-1-0 ECAC) was overwhelmed by both players and the many fans donning Cornell’s red and white, losing to Cornell (2-1-0, 1-0-0 ECAC) 3-1 at Bright Landry Hockey Center on Friday.

The historically physical matchup in response to the sold-out crowd proved no different. Both teams battled back and forth, trading scoring opportunities and more notably, several penalties.

The Crimson lacked discipline in the first period as it drew four penalties to Cornell’s two.

“I think we have to stay out of the box,” said Harvard Head Coach Ted Donato ‘91, when asked about the frequency of penalties. “We have to find a way to win some more face offs, especially on the special teams, playing the penalty kill. We have to take care of the puck.”

Cornell had significantly more time in the offensive zone and played to a 12-2 shot differential, but the Crimson’s strong penalty kill continued from its previous game. Despite the difference, Harvard’s defense, combined with sophomore goaltender Ben Charette’s strong efforts, prevented many quality looks for the Big Red.

It was ultimately Harvard’s freshman forward Aidan Lane who scored the game’s first goal with a nice deke move off of a dazzling backhand pass from freshman forward Richard Gallant in the slot in the first period.

It was Cornell frequently chasing Harvard halfway through the middle period.

Eventually though, the Crimson’s poor mistakes caught up. Players got too fancy with the puck, in one instance turning it over at the blue line and giving way to one of Cornell’s many breakways.

On other occasions, missed coverage deep in the defensive zone gave Cornell prime scoring opportunities, which proved enough to get a shot through Charette.

Sophomore defenseman Sean Keohane bit on a drop-off pass and in a scramble to cover the open man, left Big Red junior forward Jonathan Castagna open for a one-timer.

Charette, in the team’s three games and in sharing time with signed Vancouver Canucks netminder Aku Koskenvuo last season, showed he was the real deal. His season honors recognized this, but anyone in attendance quickly noticed the way he slides to cover pucks in the crease and positions himself against breakaway chances that make one almost think Harvard might be better off letting more go.

As in the middle period against the Stonehill Skyhawks on Tuesday, the team’s shortcomings could not reasonably be pinned on Charette. Defense and staying out of the penalty box top the team’s agenda moving forward.

The pressure on both teams grew as the second period came to an end and the game looked poised to be a repeat of the first matchup with Cornell a year ago that ended in a shootout victory for Harvard.

In under 90 seconds, the Big Red changed the script when Cornell freshman forward Giovanni DiGiulian scored off of a rebound after Harvard junior defenseman Matthew Morden lost track of the puck that bounced off of Charette’s pads.

The Crimson was not going to go down easy as physical play ensued throughout the third period until a hooking penalty on Cornell junior forward Jake Kraft gave Harvard a power play opportunity with just under five minutes to play. However, it ended up being Big Red junior forward Jonathan Castagna scoring a shorthanded goal on a breakaway to deliver the dagger.

“We will watch the video, make some adjustments and show some areas where we can improve,” said Donato, when asked about the team’s preparation for tomorrow’s game.

“Whether it's getting some more possession time on the power play or some spots where we put ourselves in to take penalties, which are avoidable.”

Harvard has a quick turnaround as the team takes the ice again in less than 24 hours to face off against the Colgate Raiders tomorrow evening at 7 p.m.

– Staff Writer Nate M. Bolan can be reached at nathan.bolan@thecrimson.com

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