Last Second Goal Sinks Harvard in Second Straight Loss

Harvard men’s ice hockey (7-5-1, 5-3-0 ECAC) suffered its second consecutive loss on Saturday night, falling 3-2 to the Princeton Tigers (10-4-0, 6-2-0 ECAC) in the final 2.6 seconds of regulation play.

The Crimson scrambled back from its brutal 9-1 loss to the No. 10 Quinnipiac Bobcats last night, but was unable to close out its late-game comeback bid.

Harvard had a strong start to the game against the Tigers, producing consistent scoring opportunities and shutting down Princeton’s offensive rushes.

The team dominated early with a nearly two-minute offensive zone possession against a Princeton team that had major momentum after its latest win against No. 9 Dartmouth.

Harvard’s 13-10 shot advantage in the first period was just four shy of its total shots through the entire 60 minutes of play at Quinnipiac, marking a notable improvement for the visiting team.

While last night the Crimson waited for unlikely one-timer opportunities in hopes of scraping back into the game, the team deftly made use of its open looks on net tonight.

Harvard’s defensemen led the shooting surge early. Freshman Drake Murray, junior Matthew Morden, and sophomore Sean Keohane accounted for six of the team’s shots on goal. Unfortunately for the Harvard fans who made the trip to Princeton’s Hobey Baker Memorial Rink, the Crimson was unable to capitalize on any of its shots early in the contest.

Although Harvard outshot the Tigers, Princeton managed to get into its groove of fast-paced play.

The Tigers mounted their own offensive momentum. In the face of Princeton’s intensified pressure, Harvard’s sophomore goaltender Ben Charette stood tall, keeping the contest scoreless throughout the first period by blocking several close chances in front of the net.

As the Crimson struggled to maintain possession of the puck under the Tigers’ pressure in the neutral zone, Princeton was able to generate and convert on more high-quality scoring opportunities.

Whereas the blowout against Quinnipiac came at the hands of a team leading the ECAC conference in scoring, the 2-0 hole Harvard soon found itself in was against a team whose offensive production falls just six goals ahead of the Crimson.

A puck stolen from senior forward Casey Severo and a stick thrown out of the hands of another Harvard player allowed the Tigers’ captain, David Jacobs, to sneak a shot over Charette’s shoulder from the right point.

Princeton then tallied a second goal shortly after a media break on a quick wraparound play, putting the puck squarely in front of Charette and up into the same area on the net.

Harvard was fortunate to end the period only down two goals, given the momentum on Princeton’s side, but could now shift focus to making up the deficit in the remaining 20 minutes of play.

The Crimson’s comeback was ignited by a timely goal from captain Joe Miller, the team’s third-most efficient scorer behind fellow senior forwards Philip Tresca and Severo.

The Minneapolis, Minn., native’s wrist shot made it past the glove side of Princeton’s junior goaltender, Arthur Smith.

A power play opportunity enabled Harvard to continue to fling the puck on net while up a skater, but not without another setback when an early whistle halted play.

A clean setup from sophomore forward Mick Thompson dished the puck to Severo. The senior’s ensuing shot squeaked under the pads of Smith but was not fully deflected.

With the puck visibly loose to the players on the ice, freshman forward Richard Gallant cleaned up the play, tapping the puck into the net. It appeared to all the fans in attendance that Harvard had tied the game with just over ten minutes left.

However, before Gallant had even made contact with the puck, the referee blew his whistle, believing the play to be dead with Smith’s initial effort. To the Crimson’s dismay, the call was unreviewable.

Forced to complete the comeback a second time and with time dwindling on the clock, the odds were not in Harvard’s favor.

Luckily, the Crimson was aided by an unforced error by Princeton. A defender blew an edge, which gifted Harvard a 2-on-1 breakaway opportunity.

Met with the choice to pass to freshman forward Chase Stefanek or take a shot on net, junior forward Salvatore Guzzo faked the pass before shooting across Smith’s body, dekeing out the goaltender.

Guzzo slipped the puck just past Smith’s pads, lighting the lamp for Harvard and tying the game.

The game appeared to be bound for overtime.

In an attempt to clear the defensive zone of Princeton’s latest rush and to wrap up the third period, Tresca flipped the puck up into the air, hitting the arena’s scoreboard.

Since Tresca was still in the defensive zone when the puck left his stick, the resulting faceoff took place in Harvard’s own zone with just 5.9 seconds remaining on the scoreboard.

Neither team took a timeout. Princeton won the faceoff, as its center bounced the puck off the boards back to sophomore defenseman Kai Greaves. Greaves ripped a shot on net, which was tipped past Charette by junior forward Kai Daniells.

The 2.6 seconds remaining on the clock were just simply not enough for the Crimson to effectively respond. As the buzzer rang to signal the end of the game, the scoreboard read 3-2 in favor of Princeton.

The game capped a disappointing series for Harvard. However, the team showed it can still compete with the nation’s best, with Princeton likely to appear in the upcoming USCHO national poll after its ranked wins this weekend.

The Crimson will have to brave another road game against an arguably tougher opponent, No. 9 Dartmouth, in Hanover, NH, on Jan. 9. It’ll be the team’s sole weekend game before it hosts No. 19 BU the following Monday.

—Staff writer Nate M. Bolan can be reached at [email protected].