Donato Becomes Winningest Coach in Hockey Program History as Harvard Beats Brown 7-3

Harvard men’s ice hockey (7-3-1, 5-1-0 ECAC) roared the Brown Bears (3-9-0, 2-6-0 ECAC) out of Bright-Landry in a 7-3 statement win, the final installment to its four-game homestand. With tonight’s win, Harvard’s Head Coach Ted Donato ‘91 becomes the winningest coach in Harvard men’s ice hockey history, surpassing Bill Cleary, who led the program to win a national championship in 1989.

The team’s captain, Joe Miller, reflected on Coach Donato’s impact on his career, saying, “He’s taught me so much as a player and a person, and it's really a joy to come to the rink every day and show up and play for him.”

“The coaching staff doesn't always get the recognition on wins and losses, but super happy for him, and it’s a pretty cool record to break,” the Minneapolis, Minn., native added.

The three regulation points that Harvard earned with the win put the team squarely in third place in ECAC standings, placing behind No. 10 Dartmouth and No. 17 Cornell.

Miller and sophomore forward Mick Thompson each tallied three points, while senior forward Philip Tresca, junior defenseman Matthew Morden, and freshman forward Aiden Lane combined for another six during tonight’s contest.

Speaking to the team’s strengths against Brown, Donato noted, “We were able to play with the lead. And I thought we were able to use our entire lineup.”

Harvard wasted no time breaking the game open as it brushed off last night’s slow start and scored two goals less than four minutes into the contest.

Unable to cut off the Crimson’s passing lanes and stop its mighty rushes up ice, the Bears let up both goals off rebounds. The first goal, scored by junior forward Ben MacDonald, appeared to go off a Brown player’s skate and into the air, where MacDonald and Brown defenseman simultaneously swatted at the puck. MacDonald’s stick, in a baseball-like maneuver, made contact, and he was able to light the lamp.

Thompson added to the early tally just a minute later. Picking up a lost puck in the zone, he took an initial shot off Brown’s junior goaltender Ben Halyk’s pads and continued skating across the crease to put the puck just past Halyk’s stick.

Brown took a time out, and the resulting huddle seemed to be enough to ease the Bears for the remainder of the period.

The visitors got another chance to talk things over in the break, and came out playing like a new squad for at least the first couple of minutes.

Brown’s sophomore forward Michael Salandra immediately got the puck in close on sophomore netminder Ben Charette. Salandra made a tremendous effort to get the puck to his assistant captain, fellow sophomore forward Brian Nicholas, who hammered the puck home for a first-minute score.

Salandra slid the puck narrowly on the edge of his stick around Harvard’s senior defenseman Ryan Healey before spinning around to make a no-look pass behind Charette’s net, which Nicholas put in easily.

While an important penalty kill loomed large for Harvard with senior captain and defenseman Mason Langenbrunner taking an unwise boarding penalty immediately after the goal, the Crimson still boasts the best penalty kill in the ECAC, upping its percentage again tonight.

The kill was not as clean as Harvard’s four kills against Yale were on Friday night. Shortly after the conclusion of the penalty, MacDonald, who opened up the scoring, was ushered to the locker room with an injury.

He and three others were injured in the game, but the month-long break should give the team enough time to rest and recover.

Reflecting on the physicality tonight, Donato offered an optimistic outlook.

“I thought the game was a little bit chippy,” Donato said. “In general, I think as a team, we have to be able to manage the chaos at times, whether it’s how a game is being played on a given night, how it’s being called or officiated, injuries, all those things present some challenges, but overall, I thought we handled it very well.”

The only concern coming back from the break might be Finnish freshman Heikki Ruohonen, who could still be playing in the 2026 World Junior Championships in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minn.

Despite the injuries, the Crimson was gifted a power play, and senior forward Casey Severo skated in unguarded in its final seconds to recenter the game for Harvard.

The goals kept flooding in for the Crimson. The team earned its next during a back-and-forth passing play on a 2-on-0 breakaway between Lane and fellow freshman forward Richard Gallant, who scored the third-period go-ahead goal against Yale on Friday.

Lane credits the strength of Harvard’s opponents earlier this season with his current hot streak.

“Getting experience against good teams early on,” he said, “has helped me gain a little bit of confidence and just try to understand the game a little bit better at a faster pace.”

Phillip Tresca, a senior on the men's ice hockey team, skates with the puck. The Newton, Mass., native scored Harvard's fifth goal during the game against Brown. By Chase W. McCann

Another goal came from the Crimson’s leading scorer entering the game against Brown, Tresca, who crashed the net to secure the puck and score. Tresca’s goal spurred the Bears’ coaching staff to pull Halyk, switching him out for senior Tyler Shea.

Salandra tried his best to help Brown scrape back on the scoreboard, making it a 5-2 game off a rebound shot.

The cautious enthusiasm from the Bears’ bench was immediately drowned out by the yells across the ice after two consecutive missed tripping calls sent the Harvard bench into an uproar.

Brown then scored another goal to make it 5-3, but Harvard was not shaken. With Lane’s second goal and another goal by Miller, the Crimson had put the game away, with the final score reading 7-3.

The conclusion of tonight’s game ushers in the winter break, during which the team is allowed to finish finals and get a much-needed rest before returning to the ice in January. On the second day of the new year, Harvard will take on the No. 8 Quinnipiac University Bobcats, an opponent it has dropped five of its last six contests to. Also on the Crimson’s radar are upcoming games at Princeton and No. 10 Dartmouth. All of these matches are particularly important for both Ivy League and ECAC competition.

—Staff writer Nate M. Bolan can be reached at nathan.bolan@thecrimson.com.