Men’s Hockey Falls Flat, Gets Shutout By No. 5 Quinnipiac

In the second half of a back-to-back game weekend, Harvard men’s ice hockey fell behind the eight ball early, getting blanked by No. 5 Quinnipiac in a lopsided Saturday night contest.

Despite the 5-0 scoreline, junior goaltender Ben Charette played exceptionally well, making 35 saves in a game that featured few positive performances for the visiting team.

The underdog Crimson didn’t do any favors for itself from the opening whistle. By putting the pressure firmly on the visitors, the Bobcats forced Harvard into taking early, imprudent penalties.

Freshman forward Justin Graf took the first infraction, giving Quinnipiac a chance to jump out to an early lead. While Harvard’s penalty kill initially kept the Bobcats off the board, a subsequent call on junior defenseman Sean Keohane for tripping forced the unit to go back to work.

Unfortunately for the Crimson, the penalty kill fortune didn’t last. Sustained zone time for the Bobcats left the Harvard out of sorts, and Quinnipiac captain Mason Marcellus found junior forward Chris Pelosi in the bumper spot for a one-timer that beat Charette, making it 1-0 for the home team.

All night, the Crimson struggled to maintain puck possession and escape the defensive zone. The Bobcats’ dominance was perhaps best indicated by the shot differential — 13 minutes in, Quinnipiac already had a 14-2 edge in shots on goal.

This advantage translated into a wider deficit on the scoreboard, too. Sophomore defenseman Graham Sward made a cross-seam dish to Marcellus, whose shot took an awkward bounce and snuck under the pads of Charette, continuing Harvard’s misery.

The Crimson’s fourth line of junior forward Will Hughes, fellow junior forward Justin Solovey, and sophomore forward Aidan Lane found some success in the opening frame, despite the team’s overall struggles. In addition to consistent production, the group has had success on the forecheck this season, halting opponents’ momentum when needed.

That said, the second period brought much of the same. Only a minute in, Marcellus, who was all over the ice at M&T Bank Arena, sniped the puck over Charette’s blocker off the rush to extend the Bobcats’ advantage to three.

At the game’s midpoint, the Crimson finally got a power play of its own, and an excellent scoring opportunity to boot. Sophomore forward Richard Gallant, circling from beneath the goal line, feathered a pass through traffic to captain Michael Callow. However, the senior forward’s attempt on net was stoned by Quinnipiac freshman goaltender Christian Kirsch.

The sides then exchanged more opportunities on the man advantage, though neither team could convert. No matter where the game went, it seemed that Harvard couldn’t find a rhythm.

In the third period, standout sophomore forward Heikki Ruohonen nearly got his team on the scoreboard during a four-on-four. The Finn split the Bobcat defense and got in tight on Kirsch, but the netminder made an impressive stop to keep Quinnipiac’s shutout hopes alive.

With the clock ticking down to ten minutes, the Crimson got its last gasp with yet another power play. The Bobcats, though, earned their fourth tally shortly thereafter. With three Harvard players caught up in transition, Quinnipiac freshman forward Dylan Edwards skated in from the top of the circle and beat Charette clean with a wrist shot.

To add insult to injury, Sward and the Bobcats piled on a shorthanded empty-netter after head coach Rob Rassey pulled Charette in a desperate attempt to tie it up.

The Crimson will now have a ten-day break from competition to rest and reset after the defeat, before hosting Bentley (6-6, 5-3 AHA) on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The game will be held at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center and will also be available to stream on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Kai I. Russell can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KaiRussellTHN.