Road Wreckers

ITHACA, N.Y.—With blood spattered all over his jersey, Crimson captain Peter Hafner tallied the go-ahead goal in the Harvard men’s hockey team’s 4-3 victory over No. 6 Cornell at Lynah Rink on Saturday night.

The win, coming on the Big Red’s Senior Night, gave the Crimson (15-10-2, 11-8-1 ECAC) a much-needed two points in the league standings and clinched Harvard’s first Ivy League title since the 1999-00 season.

Perhaps more importantly, the Crimson broke the Lynah curse, defeating Cornell (17-6-4, 12-5-3) on the Big Red’s home ice—a feat Harvard had not accomplished since the 1998-99 season, when it won there by a score of 5-3.

“Cornell’s always been our nemesis, always had our number—especially at Lynah,” Hafner said. “We really wanted so badly to win at this place, especially our seniors...and luckily we got it tonight.”

The Harvard captain supplemented his usual sturdy defense with some offensive heroics, but not before suffering a large cut to the forehead at 7:07 in the second period on a vicious hit from behind by Big Red winger Cam Abbott.

The hard check sent Hafner to the locker room with a towel on his bleeding forehead and earned Abbott a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

With the score tied at two, the Crimson did not waste its golden opportunity, scoring just 42 seconds later. Sophomore forward Jon Pelle picked up the puck behind the net and launched a backhander over McKee’s glove for the go-ahead goal.

Harvard continued to apply offensive pressure, but junior winger Ryan Maki was whistled for a slashing penalty at 10:20, effectively ending the Crimson’s power play.

But as Maki stepped into the box, Hafner skated back onto the ice with a bandage on his forehead. Just a minute later, he watched classmate Charlie Johnson execute a perfect spin move along the right boards before converting on the forward’s feed for a one-timer past McKee at the left post, giving Harvard a 4-2 cushion with only 9:40 remaining in the game.

“I think it was very fitting that Peter Hafner gets up after being hit, bloodied, [and] comes back and scores a big goal for us,” said Crimson coach Ted Donato ‘91

But Cornell was far from finished.

Increasing its offensive pressure, the Big Red held the puck in Harvard’s zone and forced the Crimson to take penalties, eventually putting Cornell on the power play for almost three full minutes, 1:09 of that time on a five-on-three play, beginning at 14:23 in the final period.

But the Harvard penalty kill, led by senior goaltender John Daigneau, clamped down and prevented the Big Red from scoring with the man advantage.

Though Cornell did tally a controversial goal at 18:18, a score that senior blueliner Tom Walsh argued did not cross the line—an argument for which he earned a 10-minute misconduct after bumping into the referee—the Crimson held on through a rough and physical final two minutes to escape with the 4-3 win.

“I almost had a heart attack,” Pelle said of the end. “It was really intense, really scary.”

The initial two frames were characterized by high-paced play as well. Cornell dominated the first period and opened up a 1-0 lead, but Harvard responded with two goals in the following frame.

Though the Crimson failed to convert during 1:11 of a five-on-three play—including the 59 seconds that started the second period—junior Steve Mandes notched the equalizer at 6:39, redirecting defenseman Jack Christian’s blue-line shot from the slot into the bottom-right corner of the net.

Just 1:43 later, sophomore winger Alex Meintel registered the go-ahead goal when linemate Paul Dufault won a faceoff in the right circle of the Big Red zone, pushing the puck forward and flicking it to him for the 2-1 lead.

Cornell replied with a Topher Scott goal at 15:46, tying the score at two goals apiece and setting the table for a thrilling—and injury-filled—final frame.

“We knew that we weren’t leaving here without some blood [spilt] and a lot of effort and hard work,” Donato said, “and I’m very proud of our guys.”

INJURY NOTES:

Freshman blueliner Brian McCafferty had to be helped off the ice at 4:17 of the second period and did not return for the rest of the game..

Sophomore center Tyler Magura, leaving a scrum along the left boards in the Harvard zone during the final 20 seconds of the game, skated to the center of the ice and collapsed, staying down for a few minutes as the trainers examined him.

Hafner’s cut to the forehead was severe enough to require stitches after the game.

Sophomore forward Mike Taylor, still listed as day-to-day after hurting his knee at Brown on Feb. 3, did not play against Cornell.

—Staff writer Karan Lodha can be reached at klodha@fas.harvard.edu.