Men's Hockey Fights to Draw

The Harvard men’s hockey team climbed out of an early hole to tie No. 10 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 3-3, in Troy, N.Y., Tuesday night.

After 15 minutes of play at the Houston Field House, things looked dire for the Crimson (1-0-1, 0-0-1 ECAC). Sophomore Steve Michalek yielded three goals on the Engineers’ (4-1-1, 0-0-1 ECAC) first four shots as RPI’s skilled forwards blew by Harvard defensemen with ease.

Harvard appeared well on its way to repeating its last result in Troy—a 3-0 shutout loss in the midst of its longest losing streak of the 2012-13 season. But in the final two frames of regulation, a different Crimson squad found another gear.

“I thought it was a real character-building game for us,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “We really stayed with the game plan.”

Goals from freshman Alexander Kerfoot and sophomores Greg Gozzo and Brian Hart allowed Harvard to earn a point in the ECAC standings.

Kerfoot’s first career NCAA goal put Harvard on the comeback trail early in the second period. The freshman center tapped in a rebound in the slot from sophomore linemate Jimmy Vesey after the Crimson put on an extra skater for a pending RPI penalty.

The Crimson carried the momentum generated by Kerfoot’s strike through the last two periods of regulation.

Harvard dominated the third period, outshooting RPI, 15-8. Freshman center Sean Malone threaded a slick tape-to-tape pass to Gozzo in the slot to bring the Crimson within one.

“I think the guys could taste then that the game was well within reach,” Donato said.

Sophomore forward Brian Hart knocked in the tying goal with less than ten minutes left in regulation. Freshman Kevin Guiltinan unleashed a shot at the point that deflected off two RPI sticks before Hart corralled it for the score.

“We had a good cycle set up,” said Guiltinan, who recorded his first two NCAA points on Tuesday. “We had lots of pressure on them at that point.”

Harvard had several opportunities to grab the decisive goal in regulation. Sophomore forward Kyle Criscuolo forced RPI goaltender Scott Diebold to make a glove save minutes after Hart’s tying marker.

RPI rediscovered some of their edge in the extra frame, but four blocked shots by Crimson skaters kept the Engineers at bay.

“I think [RPI] responded well,” Donato said. “I don’t think they got any great looks in overtime, but we would like to have some more chances ourselves.”

Harvard pressured the Engineers well in the opening shifts, but RPI forward Johnny Rogic led an offensive flurry for the hosts four and a half minutes into the first. Junior Crimson defenseman Mark Luzar was unable to track the senior Engineer, who swept the puck from the blueline to the crease almost uncontested.

Less than three minutes later, junior forward Ryan Haggerty delivered the Engineers’ second goal on the power play. The nation’s leading scorer blasted a one-timer from the top of the left faceoff circle for his ninth goal of the year.

Brock Higgs added RPI’s third off a long lead pass from junior linemate Zach Schroeder. Higgs skated around Michalek’s poke-check to slide the puck through an unguarded crease.

Harvard nevertheless managed to reset after the first intermission. The initial miscues did not seem to faze the Crimson.

“We knew we had the team in here to get the job done,” Guiltinan said.

After an inauspicious start in his first game in over a year, Michalek settled in net to turn away RPI’s last 21 shots, a few from point-blank range.

“I think [Michalek] really responded from a tough start, dug in and played very good,” Donato said. “For the second and third periods, and as a group, we really learned a lot about ourselves tonight, so that was a positive.”

As Donato continues to assess his team’s goaltending, Harvard will likely turn to senior Raphael Girard when the Crimson hosts RPI at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center on Friday night. The young squad is also still getting a feel for its offensive capabilities.

“We’ll continue to make adjustments and continue to learn as any team does early in the season, but especially with the amount of underclassmen we have,” Donato said. “I think there’s a lot to be improved on, but I like the effort and the comeback was certainly a real team-builder.”

On Friday, the home team will look to limit the bad bounces and errors of Tuesday night’s first 20 minutes. The last 45 give Guiltinan confidence.

“I think we have more in the tank,” Guiltinan said.

—Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at michael.ledecky@thecrimson.com.