Harvard Falls to BU in Overtime Thriller

Clinging to a 5-4 lead, all the Harvard men’s hockey team had to do was hold on for one final minute to knock off the defending NCAA Champions.

But a goal from BU senior Zach Cohen with 19.5 seconds left in regulation sent the game into overtime, where sophomore Chris Connolly gave the Terriers (5-7-2, 2-6-1 Hockey East) a 6-5 win.

The comeback victory spoiled a career night by freshman Conor Morrison, who scored four goals for the Crimson (1-5-2, 1-4-2 ECAC).

Down by one with less than a minute remaining, BU pulled its goalie for one last surge. With five Harvard skaters crowding the net, the Terriers sent a puck into the crease, leading to a scramble in front of junior goaltender Kyle Richter. After David Warsofsky’s shot was blocked, Cohen controlled the puck just long enough to put it past Richter.

The Crimson had been able to respond to BU’s previous goals, but the Cohen tally proved to be the backbreaker.

“When you score late you sort of have the momentum going into overtime and we certainly had that,” Terrier coach Jack Parker said.

A little under three minutes into the extra period, BU ended the contest. The game-winning goal emerged from an attempted wrap-around shot. The play drew Richter out, leaving Connolly free on the backside. When the shot missed the target and floated to Connolly, the forward had a clear look on goal.

“I got lucky,” Connolly said. “It popped right there and it was a wide open net.”

The Crimson had been outscored 15-4 in the third period heading into the game. The BU loss only added to the trend that has defined the season thus far.

“I think there’s no question we need to defend better, protect leads,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “This wasn’t the first time it’s happened.”

The end result overshadowed a back-and-forth game in which the Crimson was able to respond to each of BU’s first four goals with tallies of its own, despite being outshot 49-26.

“They generated a lot of shots,” Donato said. “We kept answering back with goals.”

The Terriers struck first, with Joe Pereira scoring less than four minutes into the game. The Crimson, entering with a six-game winless streak, struggled to match BU’s speed early.

But Morrison and sophomore Alex Killorn scored back-to-back goals to give Harvard a 2-1 lead. The freshman was the first on the board. A battle in the left corner of BU’s zone sent the puck in front of the Terrier goal, where Morrison was able to recover possession and beat BU goaltender Kieran Millan.

Killorn scored the second goal on a seemingly harmless shot from the left side. Millan was caught unprepared, and the puck bounced off the goaltender’s shoulder into the back of the net.

The Crimson would not be behind on the scoreboard again until Connolly’s overtime goal.

“We never got another go-ahead goal,” Parker said. “We had to keep coming from behind.”

But Harvard was never able to establish a comfortable lead, as Cohen got his first goal of the day with four minutes left in the first period—the only goal the Terriers registered during a major penalty by freshman Brendan Rempel.

The Crimson, which had matched BU shot-for-shot in the first period, slowed down in the second, getting outshot 14-6. The Terriers would outshoot Harvard for the remainder of the contest, but every time they tied the game, Morrison scored to give the Crimson a one-goal lead.

“Nobody wanted to give up anything,” Parker said.

Both teams’ seasons have been disappointing thus far. While BU may have broken its dry spell, Harvard extended its winless streak to seven. Its next chance to get a victory is Sunday against Dartmouth.

“Both teams were starving for a win,” Donato said.

Only the Terriers were able to go home full.