ECAC Victory Frames Beanpot

In Schenectady, New York on Saturday night, the Harvard men’s hockey team (9-10-3 overall, 7-7-2 ECACHL) showed the Crimson is finding a consistent formula for generating goals with a 3-2 victory over the Union Dutchmen (12-10-4, 7-5-3).

Though Union rallied to score two goals in the third period, Harvard’s special teams went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and the defense withstood the Dutchmen’s final assault to preserve the win as the Crimson’s fast start proved to be enough to secure the win.

The victory gives the team a three- game winning streak over an opponent that has lost only once in its past ten games prior to Saturday night and shows that good results will eventually come when players crash the opposing net early and often.

“We came out hungry to play. I think that’s the way we have to continue to find success later in the season,” sophomore forward Alex Biega said.

Executing this strategy well allowed Harvard to jump out to a 2-0 lead by the close of the first, and the Dutchmen only fired one shot on sophomore goalie Kyle Richter despite enjoying two power plays before the end of the period.

“Being able to get our fore-check going and allowing our forwards to match up against the other team’s defensemen is the best way for us to win games,” co-captain Dave MacDonald said.

Biega netted the first goal of the game at 3:24 thanks to the hustle and vision of co-captain Mike Taylor, who fought for the puck near the hashmarks in Union’s zone before sending a pass off the boards to Biega, who picked up his second goal of the season.

“[The shot] was a low wrist shot on net and beat the goalie wide pad,” Biega said. “It just was a great pass and a great job winning that battle by Mike Taylor to get control of the puck before passing it to me.”

Freshman forward Matt McCollem scored an unassisted goal with just 1:03 left after stealing the puck on a Union clearing attempt and beating goalie Justin Mrazek with a high shot.

After that goal, Mrazek would leave the game after only 20 minutes in net, and Corey Milan would take over for the rest of the night.

Despite the fast start, the Crimson is still somewhat frustrated that the team was not able to maintain its assertive style of play in the third period and allowed the Dutchmen to gather momentum and net two goals in the third.

“It’s a little difficult when they score two goals with five minutes left in game,” Biega said. “I think our team has to do a better job of playing 60 minutes and keeping the puck out of our own end.”

Luckily, Harvard held a 3-0 lead at the time of the Dutchmen’s game-ending surge thanks to senior forward Paul Dufault. He added his fifth goal of the season on assists from junior defenseman Brian McCafferty and senior forward Dave Watters.

“[Like] against NU and Dartmouth, when we have a good start and get a lead early, it’s easier to deal with mistakes as the game progresses,” MacDonald said.

In what would prove to be the eventual game winner, Dufault took advantage of a Union penalty at 13:52 for charging. After 1:01 of the man advantage, Dufault stuffed in the rebound from in front of the net after Milan could not control McCafferty’s shot.

Since Union gathered momentum in the last period, Richter’s play in net proved especially important at the end of the game when Union out-shot the Crimson 16-9 in the third and scored its second goal of the night to pull within one at 19:41 after pulling Milan.

Though he would let in both of the Dutchmen’s goals within the last five minutes, Richter finished the night with 24 saves, two-thirds of which came in the third period.

“Just making the first save for us and controlling rebounds, Kyle’s strong play has really been the same story all year,” MacDonald said. “He’s playing with confidence and that’s contagious for the whole team.”

—Staff writer Robert T. Hamlin can be reached at rhamlin@fas.harvard.edu.