Harvard Men's Hockey Fails to Muster Win at UND

Traveling halfway across the country, the Harvard men’s hockey team (4-4-4, 3-3-2 ECAC) went 0-1-1 against No. 18 University of North Dakota (10-8-2, 7-7 WCHA) in a two-game series to finish out 2011. Senior forward Alex Killorn led the Crimson offense with two goals and two assists, while five other Harvard players each netted a goal across the two-day period.

The Crimson scored first in both games, but UND, who, as of Jan. 1, no longer uses its former mascot—never allowed Harvard to take the lead again after netting goals of its own.

While the first game saw the Crimson, down two goals, rally in the third period to come back and tie, the second contest was a decisive victory by North Dakota.

“It was a good opportunity to play a good team in front of a large crowd,” junior defenseman Danny Biega said. “It’s a tough atmosphere to play in, and although we didn’t win, the team took many positive steps in the right direction.”

NORTH DAKOTA 7, HARVARD 3

The day after a third-period, two-goal comeback to tie, Harvard men’s hockey was unable to come from behind again last night, losing to University of North Dakota, 7-3, and breaking its five-game unbeaten streak.

The Crimson dominated the beginning of the contest. After winning the opening faceoff, Harvard outshot UND, 10-2, before Killorn rocketed a left-handed shot past North Dakota goaltender Aaron Dell. Killorn’s goal came during a power play—Harvard is ranked first in the nation with a 32.1-percent success rate.

But the Crimson’s only lead of the game was short-lived, and a goal by UND’s Brendan O’Donnell tied the game back at two.

Soon after, Killorn was sent to the penalty box for tripping, and North Dakota capitalized on Harvard’s low-ranked power-play defense, scoring a mere five seconds into the power play.

Down, 2-1, freshman forward Mike Seward fought for the puck past the right side of UND’s goal and hit it back towards senior forward Eric Kroshus, who was trailing behind. Kroshus hit a one-timer, but Dell grabbed the puck for the save, and Harvard remained trailing by one.

With less than seven minutes to play in the first period, North Dakota pulled its goalie after a delayed penalty call to add an extra attacker. The move proved to be a smart one when a well placed shot by Danny Kristo gave UND the 3-1 advantage.

Following the goal, Harvard faced a team penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct that put it a man down on the ice. North Dakota stayed patient, passing the puck around the horn until Nick Mattson found Kristo, who redirected the puck into the net.

As the clock ticked the final seconds of the frame, Kroshus brought his team back within two, shooting at close range and allowing his momentum to carry him over Dell and into the goal along with the puck.

The second period did not bode well for the Crimson either. Within the first minute, UND lifted themselves ahead a goal further, and yet another score later in the frame put the scoreboard at 6-2 in favor of North Dakota.

Despite power play opportunities, including a five-minute major penalty on Andrew Panzarella for contact to the head, Harvard failed to score again until the third period when junior forward Luke Greiner put away a cross from freshman defenseman Max Everson.

Play went back-and-forth for the next few minutes, but a seventh North Dakota goal crushed Harvard’s hopes of staging another comeback like the one against University of New Hampshire earlier in the season, in which Harvard erased a four-goal deficit in the third period to win.

“We battled hard,” freshman forward Petr Placek said. “But we had a few unlucky calls and unlucky goals against us, and it was hard to get back into the game.”

The game ended with UND on top, 7-3, only a couple of hours before the new year.

HARVARD 4, NORTH DAKOTA 4

In the first of the two-game series, Harvard tied North Dakota, 4-4, Thursday night in a back-and-forth overtime battle.

The Crimson got on the board first. With just under five minutes left to play in the first period, freshman defenseman Patrick McNally slipped one past the goalie to give Harvard the 1-0 lead.

But UND came out hot in the second, notching back-to-back goals within the first two minutes of the frame. Killorn, who finished the game 17-4 in faceoffs, continued the scoring frenzy and netted one of his own less than a minute later to tie the game at two.

Though the rest of the period saw back-and-forth play, North Dakota found the back of the net two more times in the period to give the home team a 4-2 edge going into the second break.

Despite its struggles in the second period, Harvard took control of the third frame. Junior forwards Alex Fallstrom and Marshall Everson each tallied a goal midway through the final frame of regulation, propelling the Crimson into overtime with the score knotted at four.

Starting with a penalty early on, Harvard found itself on its heels in overtime and failed to record a single shot. North Dakota had four, but freshman goaltender Steve Michalek, who had 33 saves on the night, corralled them all, and the game ended with both teams frozen at four.'

—Staff writer Taryn I. Kurcz can be reached at tkurcz13@college.harvard.edu.