Last-Place Princeton Upsets M. Hockey

Not twenty-four hours after its triumphant win over Yale, Harvard was brought back to reality by last-place Princeton.

The No. 13 Crimson fell in lackluster fashion to lowly Princeton, 2-1, Saturday afternoon. Harvard (12-6-1, 11-3-0 ECAC) outshot the Tigers (3-15-0, 2-11-0 ECAC) 46-29 and committed far fewer penalties, but for the third straight season, the Crimson could not get the job done at Bright Hockey Center versus Princeton.

“We outshot them, out-played them, out-chanced them and out-coached them,” said captain and center Dominic Moore. “But in the end, when we looked up at the scoreboard, we lost.”

Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni echoed Moore’s sentiment.

“We took 46 mostly-decent shots,” Mazzoleni said. “We made one. You’re not going to win finishing like that.”

With less than a minute remaining in the second period and the Crimson down 1-0, Moore tallied Harvard’s lone goal of the contest. After penetrating deep into the low slot, Moore whipped a shot past stingy Tiger goaltender Trevor Clay.

Just 19 seconds later, however, Princeton wing Chris Owen scored his second goal of the night and the eventual game-winner to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

“That end of period goal—ouch, that hurt,” Mazzoleni said.

Clay naturally had a sunnier outlook on the turn of events.

“That second goal was huge for us,” Clay said. “From there on it was our game and we felt a confidence we hadn’t felt all season”

As crucial as that second goal was for Princeton, Clay’s performance in goal may have been more vital to the Tigers’ cause. Clay reduced the dynamic Harvard offense to a benign barrage of individuals, each vying singlehandedly to save the game.

“In the third period our guys tried to do a little too much individually,” Mazzoleni said. “You have to give Clay a great deal of credit. The kid stepped up and shut us down.”

Clay was equally impressive in the first period. He notched 22 saves and allowed his team to get on the board first, a devastating omen for the Crimson, which is 0-5-0 in games where the opponent scores first.

Princeton took the lead at 13:36 of the first when Owen played garbage man, scrapping in a power play goal in front of the net.

“We had no focus to compete,” Mazzoleni said. “And that first goal took us by surprise and sent us reeling.”

The loss is Harvard’s first at the Bright Center this season, snapping a 10-game unbeaten streak going back to last season.

The Crimson enters a 20-day break for exams. Its next game is not until Jan. 31 against Brown at Bright. The loss also opens the door for Cornell (7-1-0 ECAC) to seize first place from the Crimson during Harvard’s exam hiatus.

“It certainly gives us something to think about over break,” Mazzoleni said.

—Staff writer Sean W. Coughlin can be reached at coughl@fas.harvard.edu.