Comeback Kids

The Harvard men’s hockey team rallied from two one-goal deficits to snare a 3-2 victory over St. Lawrence on Friday night, bringing itself to the verge of a first-round playoff bye. Senior Dan Murphy led the charge with two goals, including the winning tally, and Kevin Du notched two assists.

The winning goal came with 11:52 left in the third period after Ryan Maki, skating down the middle of the ice, drew the Saints (18-13-2, 12-8-1 ECAC) defenders off of the blue line and slid a pass to Murphy, who was skating down the left wing. Murphy’s shot flew into the top right corner of the net for his 13th goal of the season.

Although St. Lawrence staged several furious comeback attempts, it failed to score the tying goal. After the Saints pulled their goalie with only a few minutes left, it was Harvard who almost notched another goal when Tom Walsh shot a puck off the post with only one minute remaining. As the clock ran down and the crowd filed out, the Crimson players stormed the ice.

“It was a hard-fought game,” coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “I don’t think it was our prettiest effort, but our guys really worked hard against a St. Lawrence team that offensively can be very scary and doesn’t need a lot of opportunities to score. It was one of those games that you’re holding your breath all night. We stayed in it, worked hard, and ultimately were paid off for all the hard work.”

Neither team mounted a serious threat in the first period until St. Lawrence winger Chase Trull notched the first goal of the night with one minute left. Harvard moved into a tie after sophomore Dave Watters tipped a Dylan Reese shot into the back of the net with 12:09 left in the second period. It was Reese’s third straight game with an assist.

Goalie John Daigneau withstood several furious flurries in front of his own net, saving a total of 25 shots on the night. Daigneau and St. Lawrence’s Justin Pesony each faced 27 shots, but Daigneau had one more crucial stop than his counterpart.

The second period saw three goals—Watters’, a Saints tally to go up 2-1, and then Murphy’s first goal to knot the score at two. That last goal came after a scramble in front of the net and many attempted shots, the last of which Murphy put in.

“We’ve been talking all week about our offense and creating an up-tempo game,” Daigneau said. “I thought the first period was very much feeling each other out. After that, we got loose a little bit and started taking more risks.”

—Staff writer Julie R. S. Fogarty can be reached at fogarty@fas.harvard.edu.