Early Lead Dissipates As Men's Hockey Falls To St. Lawrence

It looked as if the Harvard men’s hockey team (7-16-3, 4-13-2 ECAC) was going to continue a recent trend, continuing its momentum through the final games of the regular season after entering Friday night’s game against St. Lawrence (16-11-4, 9-6-4 ECAC) on a season-high four-game unbeaten streak.

Freshman forward Jimmy Vesey had put the Crimson up 2-1 early in third period at Appleton Arena on Friday, with assists from sophomore Colin Blackwell and assistant captain Alex Fallstrom.

But midway through the final frame, that lead would quickly disappear.

After a tripping penalty on captain Danny Biega at 7:57 in the third, Saint senior defenseman George Hughes netted a power-play goal to tie the score at two, with helpers from captain Kyle Flanagan and junior Justin Baker.

Just 12 seconds later, freshman forward Greg Carey claimed the lead for St. Lawrence, scoring what would be the game winner, assisted by Jeremy Wick and Jordan Dewey.

With the victory, the Saints increase their winning streak to four, highlighted by an upset one week ago against No. 1 Quinnipiac, where they handed the top-ranked Bobcats their first lost in 22 games.

Harvard remains in last place in the ECAC with the loss to second-place St. Lawrence. With three games remaining in the regular season, and the Crimson five points behind the nearest teams in the standings (Cornell and Colgate), Harvard will need some help to escape from its first last place finish in at least 50 years.

In the first period, the Crimson took the first lead of the game with a power-play goal from senior Marshall Everson, his fifth straight game with a goal, a career-high goal-streak. Biega and senior Luke Greiner earned the assists.

Around five minutes later at 11:20 in the period, Flanagan knotted the score at one with help from Pat Raley and Justin Bruckel.

Despite the loss, Harvard outshot St. Lawrence, 26-25, and junior goalie Raphael Girard had 21 saves on the night for the Crimson.

—Staff writer David Mazza can be reached at davidmazza@college.harvard.edu.