Harvard Falls to No. 9 Cornell in Last ECAC Quarterfinal Game

In the deciding game of the best-of-three quarterfinal series, Harvard men’s ice hockey fell to No. 9 Cornell by a score of 5-2. Despite winning the first game of the series, it was not able to come out with a second win, and the loss ended its playoff hopes.

The Crimson (16-15-2, 11-10-1 ECAC) started the game with much more intensity than it did in last night’s contest, introducing a physical style of play that set the tone for the rest of the game. The Big Red (21-9-1, 15-6-1 ECAC) seemed caught off guard by Harvard’s early pressure, and it wasn’t long before junior defenseman George Fegaras took a holding penalty trying to prevent a Crimson entry into the zone.

Harvard’s power play, which went zero-for-three last night with a total of one shot, wasted no time smothering Cornell in its defensive zone. Less than a minute into the skater-up advantage, junior forward Michael Callow fired a hard pass toward the top of the crease, where sophomore defenseman Lucas St. Louis was waiting to redirect the puck into the back of the net and take the early lead. This goal marked St. Louis’ first of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.

“I thought we carried the play,” said Harvard head coach Ted Donato ’91 when asked about the team’s performance. “We scored the goal, and I felt like there was a great energy on the bench.”

The Big Red wasn’t going to go away without a fight. Less than two minutes after the initial goal, a defensive miscommunication for the Crimson allowed a Cornell two-on-one to come barreling into the zone. Sophomore forward Charlie Major slid the puck across the slot to freshman forward Reegan Hiscock, who was able to fire it past sophomore goaltender Ben Charette to even the score.

At the end of the first period, Harvard was leading in shots on goal six to five. What was lacking in terms of offensive opportunities was certainly being made up for in the form of physicality. In the first twenty minutes, both sides were making it a point to lay as many big hits as possible, garnering excited reactions from the packed Big Red crowd at Lynah Rink.

That same energy made its way into the second period, but it was the Crimson’s misfortune that it got plagued with penalties.

“We started to chase the game a little bit,” said Donato. “Really just needed to stay out of the box.”

The first of these was a holding call against its captain, Mason Langenbrunner. Harvard’s penalty kill, which holds the third-highest percentage of success in NCAA Division I hockey at .885, did what it does best, allowing the Big Red minimal time in the zone.

Around the halfway mark of the period, junior forward Ben MacDonald was called for a crosscheck, putting the Crimson down a man once again. Cornell established itself on the power play much better than it had in the previous attempt, but it seemed like the penalty kill was going to win out once again.

However, in the waning seconds of the penalty, a low, hard shot from the point made by freshman defenseman Xavier Veilleux ricocheted off the skate of junior forward Ryan Walsh to give the Big Red its first lead of the game.

Cornell was dictating much of the play at this point in the game, forcing Harvard to spend the majority of the period in its own zone. It didn’t take long before the Big Red was able to extend its lead.

As Walsh was skating behind the net with the puck, he made a pass up to the point and found sophomore defenseman Michael Fisher, who fired a shot that beat Charette beneath his left arm, giving the home team a slightly bigger cushion.

Late in the period, senior defenseman Ryan Healey was charged with a hooking penalty, but the Crimson penalty kill returned to proper form and didn’t allow a goal as the second period came to a close.

The start of the third period saw Harvard doing very little in terms of generating offense. It struggled to get the puck out of its zone, and when it did, it had a hard time getting a shot on goal.

This changed when junior defenseman Matthew Morden found sophomore forward Justin Solovey behind the net, who carried it into the slot. After firing a shot off freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer, sophomore forward Will Hughes buried the rebound to make it a one-goal game once again.

“When we scored to make it 3-2, we had all the momentum,” said Donato. “Probably had six or seven really great looks. Really proud of the effort, obviously disappointed, frustrated just like the players.”

The goal signalled a momentum shift for the Crimson, who suddenly had a new burst of life. For the remainder of the period, Harvard was able to control the puck in the offensive zone, generating several threatening chances.

As the clock ticked down, Donato decided to pull Charette, hoping that the extra attacker would be enough to get the equalizer.

But the attempt was in vain, for with just under a minute left in regulation, junior forward Jake Kraft found the empty net, delivering the deciding blow to Harvard. Junior forward Jonathan Castagna scored another on the empty net thirty seconds later.

This loss marks the end of the Crimson’s season, and Cornell will move on to the ECAC semi-finals in Lake Placid, N.Y., to take on the Princeton Tigers.

— Staff writer Owen Butler can be reached at [email protected].