Harvard Ties After Late Goal

History can repeat itself, but this is plain crazy.

For the fifth time this season, the No. 14 Harvard men’s hockey team allowed a significant late goal, earning only a 2-2 tie against No. 20 Boston University despite dominating the Terriers in the first period last night at the Bright Hockey Center.

After struggling initially to deal with the Crimson’s transition game and quick puck movement, BU (3-4-2, 3-3-1 Hockey East) took advantage of five Harvard penalties in the final 40 minutes to get its offense back on track.

“What was terrific about our team,” Terriers coach Jack Parker said, “was [that] there was an unbelievable turnaround in the second and third periods, to the point where I thought we were outplaying [the Crimson].”

Both squads had their chances to score in the overtime period, but neither team was able to convert on its opportunities.

Freshman winger Jimmy Fraser came very close to netting a goal in the final seconds—even inciting a premature lighting of the red lamp—but BU netminder John Curry fended off his shot as time expired.

“[The Terriers] were still on their high from tying the game there late, and they came after us pretty good,” said senior and Harvard goaltender John Daigneau. “But we responded and put some pressure [on them] and almost got one at the end.”

Despite BU’s sustained attack in the second and third periods, it seemed as if the Crimson (6-2-1, 5-2-0 ECAC) would be able to hold off the Terriers. Though BU scored a goal late in the second period to cut Harvard’s lead in half, the Crimson clamped down on the penalty kill, blanking the Terriers in seven opportunities.

“We did a good job killing penalties,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “Unfortunately, some of them were unnecessary, and I think it took a little jump out of our legs on the other end of the ice.”

With players tired from working hard in their own zone, the Crimson lost many opportunities to extend its lead.

And eventually, BU penetrated the Harvard defense. Terriers defenseman Kevin Schaeffer fired a shot through traffic from the right boards, sneaking a shot high past the effectively blinded Daigneau at 18:20 of the third period.

“Bodies,” said the netminder, explaining what he saw on the second goal. “I still have no idea where [the puck] went in.”

BU at first put itself in a hole by taking two penalties 90 seconds apart, giving the Crimson 30 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage in the opening minutes of the game.

Harvard didn’t waste its opportunity, passing efficiently and cycling the puck from the point to the goal line, where senior forward Charlie Johnson waited.

Curry had no chance as senior forward Dan Murphy took a feed from Johnson in the slot and buried his fifth man-advantage goal of the season low into the left side of the net at 3:09.

The Crimson maintained its aggressive pace throughout the period and increased its cushion to 2-0 at 10:25, when sophomore winger Dave Watters stuffed the rebound from blueliner Dylan Reese’s initial shot past the sprawled Curry.

But unfortunately for Harvard, the Crimson would not extend its lead despite dominating the Terriers for the rest of the period, and the two-goal margin would not prove to be enough for the victory.

“Getting outshot 20-7 [in the first period] was a pretty embarrassing thing,” Parker said. “[My players] knew if it weren’t for John Curry and some fortunate bounces, the game would have been over.”

—Staff writer Karan Lodha can be reached at klodha@fas.harvard.edu.