Men’s Hockey Wins ECAC Quarterfinal Game One at No. 9 Cornell

Despite playing in a packed Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y., the Harvard men’s ice hockey team brought down the No. 9 Cornell Big Red with a score of 3-1 in the first game of the ECAC Tournament quarterfinal round on Friday night.

A week after not leading at any point during regulation play in its overtime win over St. Lawrence in the opening round, Harvard (16-14-2, 13-10-1 ECAC) rebounded emphatically tonight. The Crimson scored two go-ahead goals against Cornell (20-9-1, 15-7-1), succeeding largely due to its disciplined style of play, which created open ice for its players and allowed them to capitalize on scoring opportunities.

Neither Cornell nor Harvard was able to generate much offense to start the contest, as the teams traded icings back and forth. Yet, it was the Crimson that established a high level of physicality early.

Sophomore defenseman Lucas St. Louis had a major open-ice hit midway through the period as a lone Cornell player swiveled his head around after receiving a pass. Later, sophomore forward Justin Solovey drove another Big Red player into the boards, which helped the Crimson maintain its possession of the puck.

Harvard’s momentum flustered the Cornell bench, causing the Big Red to get cited with a penalty for too many men on the ice.

Unsurprisingly, Harvard’s power play was unsuccessful, as the team currently has one of the lowest conversion rates in the country, with its meager 14.1 percent.

Nonetheless, the team’s even-strength offense soon found its groove, and players quickly got in scoring position.

The Crimson scored the opening goal halfway through the first period. Junior defenseman Matthew Morden’s initial shot missed just wide of the pipes and went behind the net that was guarded by Cornell’s freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer. Luckily for the visitors, junior forward Michael Callow was there to recover the puck and put it in between the pipes from a narrow angle.

With his goal tonight, Callow extended his point streak to six games, dating back to Feb. 20 at Union College.

The Big Red responded to the Crimson’s goal, as it scratched its only point of the game onto the scoreboard off a snipe. After securing possession in an offensive zone faceoff, a Cornell defender ripped a shot from the center of the blue line, firing the puck between the legs of Harvard’s sophomore netminder Ben Charette with immense speed.

A hooking call against the Big Red then put the Crimson on its second power play of the night, but a subsequent call against Harvard sent the game to four-on-four play, yielding nothing for either side.

Still, a welcome surprise came for the Crimson on the ensuing penalty kill, as junior forward Ben MacDonald collected a loose puck from a fallen Cornell skater and carried it up ice with 3:42 remaining in the second period to score the team’s second goal of the evening.

As MacDonald rushed up the ice for the shorty, he was accompanied by Morden, who was open for a two-on-one chance from the left point. However, MacDonald elected to shoot the puck himself and regain the lead for his team.

MacDonald last appeared on Jan. 24 against Cornell, before returning to the Crimson’s lineup for the playoffs.

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As the game progressed, it grew increasingly physical. In the third period specifically, tensions rose as the Big Red scrambled for a goal.

While Harvard continued to get shots on net from freshman forward Heikki Ruohonen and others, Cornell repeatedly attempted to rush the puck up the ice, only to be stifled by the Crimson’s defense.

The crowd at Lynah may have wished to save its fish for the final minutes of the looming loss, but instead could only boo as MacDonald put the game away on the empty-net shot.

The win arguably marks Harvard’s best victory since its 4-0 win against Union in January, but the Crimson’s work is far from over. Harvard will strive to win the quarterfinal round in the second game of the series tomorrow night, but Cornell will undoubtedly come out hot as it looks to defend its home rink and force a third game. Puck drop tomorrow is at 7:00 p.m. EDT in Ithaca, N.Y., and will be available to stream on ESPN+.

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