Men’s Hockey Stuns No. 13 BU In Back-And-Forth Barn-Burner

Facing off against its highest-ranked opponent of the season to date, Harvard men’s ice hockey got the last laugh against No. 13 Boston University, coming out on top 6-5 in a contest that featured six third-period goals and a disallowed tally in the final frantic minute.

With the win, the Crimson (3-2, 1-1 ECAC) broke a five-game losing streak to the nationally-ranked Terriers (7-4, 4-2 HE), finding continual success with transition offense and shot-blocking.

As expected, BU controlled the pace of play early, utilizing a strong forecheck to pin Harvard’s defense in its zone. Initially, the Crimson struggled to match the Terriers’ crisp passing sequences, but junior goaltender Ben Charette stood tall to keep the game scoreless.

Ironically, a slashing penalty on Harvard junior defenseman Lucas St. Louis proved to be the momentum shift the Crimson needed. Playing aggressively to deny zone entries, junior forward Will Hughes and senior forward Ryan Fine each created shorthanded breakaways, though both were denied by junior netminder Mikhail Yegorov.

Following the vapid BU power play, however, Harvard surged.

A miscommunication between Terrier senior defenseman Mick Frechette and junior defenseman Adam Barone set up Crimson sophomore forward Chase Stefanek, who found himself with the puck and alone against Yegorov. Unfazed by the 6’5” goaltender, the sophomore sniped it into the top corner to give Harvard a 1-0 lead.

The Crimson’s opportunism continued to pay off in the middle frame. Taking advantage of an out-of-position Terriers defensive pair, captain Matthew Morden flipped a pass to a streaking junior forward, Justin Solovey. Despite being hooked from behind, Solovey muscled through, sneaking a quick backhand rip past Yegorov to make it 2-0.

The lead did not last for long, though. Freshman forward Justin Graf was penalized for hooking before the halfway mark, and this time around, BU’s power play unit capitalized on the skater-up opportunity. Following a long stretch of offensive zone possession, Terrier freshman defenseman Xavier Villeneuve found freshman forward Viktor Nörringer, who blasted a one-timer past a helpless Charette to cut the score to 2-1.

Harvard then gave up the equalizer only a few minutes later, this time at even strength. Re-establishing the forecheck, BU junior forward Nick Roukounakis forced his way to Charette’s left post and shoveled a pass across the crease, finding fellow junior forward Kamil Bednarik for a tip.

Luckily, the Crimson found relief in the form of its first power play — a hooking infraction against sophomore forward Ryder Ritchie. After a faceoff win, junior forward Mick Thompson circled the point and launched a shot at Yegorov. The ensuing rebound took a fortunate hop to sophomore forward Aidan Lane, and the Ontario native buried the go-ahead goal to make it 3-2.

Harvard continued to find success in transition, with sophomore forward Richard Gallant and sophomore defenseman Drake Murray both getting denied off odd-man breaks.

Five goals were already a lot, but the third period brought many more. The frenzy started with the Terriers finding yet another equalizer with standout sophomore forward Tynan Lawrence. After receiving a cross-seam dish from sophomore defenseman Charlie Trethewey, Lawrence rifled a shot past Charette for his ninth of the young season.

Not even three minutes later, the Crimson’s bottom-six answered back. Solovey delivered a crushing hit to Trethewey behind Yegorov, and the puck squirted out to Lane amidst the confusion, who scored from the slot for his second goal of the game, making it 4-3.

Again, Harvard couldn’t hold onto the lead, and BU scored twice in 41 seconds. A seeing-eye wrister from freshman defenseman Haoxi Wang hit twine, then Ritchie was left unmarked in the slot and buried another past Charette, giving the Terriers a fragile 5-4 advantage.

It was the Crimson’s time to answer back. Off a clean faceoff win, Solovey cycled the puck up to the point, where Morden fired it through traffic. Hughes, seeing an opportunity, tipped his captain’s shot past an out-of-position Yegorov to knot the game at five apiece.

But it was senior forward Cameron Johnson’s heroics that provided the game-winner. In a quick-developing two-on-one, Stefanek saucered a pass to Johnson, who capitalized on the one-timer to give Harvard a 6-5 lead with under eight minutes to go.

Desperate for yet another answer, BU head coach Jay Pandolfo pulled Yegorov with a little over two minutes remaining in regulation, hoping to even the score again in the final stretch.

Harvard sophomore defenseman Donny Bracco was then sent to the box for holding, putting the Terriers on a six-to-four player advantage. Luckily for the Crimson, Charette made multiple clutch saves to defend Harvard’s lead.

However, with just 53 seconds left on the clock, BU captain Jack Harvey snuck a shot through Charette’s five-hole, evening the score at 6-6. To the dismay of the boisterous fans in Agganis Arena, Crimson head coach Rob Rassey challenged the goal for a high-stick. Following a lengthy review, the goal was eventually overturned.

The Terriers ramped up the pressure in the final seconds of the game, but it was not enough to rattle Charette, who stuffed Harvey to secure the 6-5 win.

As the final whistle blew, Harvard sophomore forward Heikki Ruohonen and Bednarik broke out into a tussle, concluding the theatrical game in a fittingly dramatic fashion.

The Crimson will embark on an ECAC road trip this weekend, squaring off against Princeton on Friday, Nov. 13, and No. 5 Quinnipiac on Saturday, Nov. 14. Both games will start at 7 p. m. EST and will be available to stream on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Kai I. Russell can be reached at [email protected].