Men’s Hockey Downs St. Lawrence 4-3 in OT, Advances to 10th-Straight ECAC Quarterfinal

On Friday night, Harvard men’s ice hockey overcame the St. Lawrence Saints 18 minutes into the overtime period of the Opening Round of the ECAC Tournament. Sophomore forward Mick Thompson’s golden goal nabbed the Crimson a 4-3 win and secured the team a spot in the conference quarterfinals.

The Crimson (15-14-2, 12-10-1 ECAC) lost just one game in its prior 10 matchups against the Saints and hasn’t lost a playoff series since 1961 against St. Lawrence (7-25-3, 6-16-1).

The expectation was another Harvard win, especially after sweeping the North Country road series against St. Lawrence and Clarkson for the first time since 2022-23. However, the Saints battled, and the game quickly became do-or-die as both teams strove to continue their seasons.

“I think St. Lawrence deserves some credit as well,” said Head Coach Ted Donato ’91. “I think they came pretty hard, and they brought all five guys in the forecheck with the D coming down the walls.”

The Crimson got it done with just 1:40 left to play in the extra period after a slower-than-usual start offensively compared to its last two regular-season games against Princeton and No. 8 Quinnipiac. Harvard also gave up the first goal, despite St. Lawrence only having one road win all season.

The Saints tallied the opening goal in the first two minutes before the Crimson could settle in. After a seemingly harmless shot from the point, St. Lawrence freshman forward Cooper Pierson converted on the ensuing rebound to make it 1-0.

“You don’t want to be the team chasing,” said freshman forward Heikki Ruohonen. “You want to be the driving force.”

Harvard, undeterred by the deficit, answered back on a power play midway through the first period. Freshman forward Richard Gallant passed between his legs to fellow freshman forward Aidan Lane below the circle. Lane made no mistake, blasting home a one-timer to even the score.

With the equalizer, the Crimson gained some steam, outshooting the Saints 10-6 at the end of the frame and earning another power play to boot.

Harvard dominated possession and control of the faceoff in the second period, but didn’t have the luck to get another one by Smith, who allowed a total of 12 goals throughout the team’s last two contests.

Mere inches negated an early second-period goal for Harvard, following a video review that determined Ruohonen’s shot had only hit the right post.

Despite receiving a third power play before the halfway mark, the Crimson couldn’t convert. Instead, it was the Saints that gained an edge, thanks to a deflected shot from the point. Freshman forward Rasmus Svarström was credited with the goal, putting the visitors ahead 2-1.

Adding to the Crimson’s struggle, senior forward Marek Hejduk was penalized for roughing not long after.

Ironically, Harvard’s performance improved amid the shorthanded play. Ruohonen redeemed himself for the prior miss by faking a pass on a two-on-two play in the slot before spinning and deftly zipping a shot between Smith’s legs.

“I think we were resilient all night, and I think we just stuck with it,” said Thompson.
“We were never out of it.”

After the first period, it was Harvard that secured higher-quality looks and set the pace in the neutral zone. However, the Saints made better plays with their opportunities and played a more relaxed game, likely because they were the lower-seeded team with less to lose, and managed to keep a lead on the scoreboard.

St. Lawrence’s third goal came from a one-on-one chance after the Crimson let up the puck in the offensive zone. The only Harvard defender who could backcheck in time was sophomore defenseman Lucas St. Louis, who wasn’t quite quick enough to get in position to block the shot.

With its back against the wall once more, the Crimson successfully scrambled to tie the game. Junior forward Michael Callow managed to recover the puck amidst a flurry in front of Smith, and the Boston, Mass., native’s put-away sent the game to overtime.

In five-on-five, full-length overtime, Harvard tightened up in the neutral zone, finishing checks with every opportunity. Donato shortened his bench and entrusted more minutes to his top three lines.

Finally, after 18 minutes and 20 seconds of sudden death had elapsed, Thompson shoveled the puck on net following a chaotic faceoff. The sophomore forward then dexterously caught his own rebound, backhanding the game-winner past Smith.

“I really liked the resilience of the group going down with 10 minutes to go in the third period, when to that point we were kind of carrying the play,” Donato said. “I felt like we just had to keep digging deeper.”

Harvard faces off against No. 9 Cornell this weekend in the best-of-three ECAC quarterfinal series in Ithaca, N.Y.

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

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