Men's Hockey Hangs on to Defeat Princeton, 3-2

The hosts found themselves in an unfamiliar position Friday night at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center: hanging on for dear life. They’ll take it over trying to crawl back from the dead.

Three goals in the first 10 minutes were just enough for the Harvard men’s hockey team (6-11-3, 3-9-3 ECAC) to snap a four-game losing streak and sweep its season series with Princeton (4-16-0, 3-10-0). Despite two extra-man goals from Tiger senior defenseman Alex Rush in the final seven minutes, the Crimson escaped the ice with a 3-2 win.

“I think we’ve found, and proven to ourselves, that it’s a lot easier to hold on than it is to try to come back,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said.

Weighed down by first period deficits in its last home stand against Cornell and Colgate, the Crimson got the quick start it had been waiting for all season with goals from sophomore Greg Gozzo, freshman center Alexander Kerfoot, and sophomore forward Jimmy Vesey in the opening minutes. Senior goaltender Raphael Girard was perfect for 53 minutes before surrendering goals on 5-on-3 and 6-on-5 Princeton advantages.

“We’ve been harping on having a good start for the past couple of weeks,” Vesey said. “It seemed like for awhile we were going down two [or] three goals every game, and it’s tough to come back from that kind of deficit.”

Harvard entered Friday’s game looking for its first ECAC win since beating Princeton, 5-3, at Hobey Baker Rink on Nov. 16. After challenging No. 3 Union in a close 4-3 loss last Saturday, the Crimson took the chance to jump on an unranked opponent who has also struggled to collect conference points this year.

Harvard came out with an aggressive forecheck, and Gozzo got the team rolling with a strike two minutes into the first period. The sophomore led an initial rush up the left wing before beating Princeton freshman goaltender Colton Phinney left-side off a rebound from freshman linemate Tyler Moy.

Kerfoot also found success on Phinney’s left moments later. The freshman skated around the Princeton goaltender and scored glove-side at 4:24 after a behind-the-net feed from sophomore forward Kyle Criscuolo.

Vesey redirected a crossing pass from sophomore defenseman Desmond Bergin at 9:40 to give the Crimson its largest first period lead of the season. Working from the right point, Bergin found Vesey streaking down the left side of the slot for the forward’s team-leading 11th goal of the season.

“[Bergin] faked the shot, [and] then hit me backdoors,” Vesey said. “It was a really great pass from Desmond.”

Princeton received new life with eight minutes left in regulation after junior defenseman Max Everson and freshman forward Sean Malone were whistled for minor penalties 13 seconds apart. Rush found the back of the net from the left point on the ensuing 5-on-3 at 13:20. After Princeton pulled Phinney for the extra attacker three minutes later, Rush scored again through traffic from the right point with just over three minutes left in regulation.

Phinney, who finished the game with 30 saves, turned away a number of Harvard opportunities for a fourth goal, including a breakaway from sophomore forward Kyle Criscuolo with just over two minutes to play. The Crimson did not have to stave off another 6-on-5 Princeton attack after Tigers junior forward Tucker Brockett was whistled for tripping.

In the second period, Princeton turned up the pressure on Girard, who was starting in his first game since receiving an early hook from Donato during the Crimson’s 5-1 loss to Yale in the Rivalry On Ice game at Madison Square Garden. On Friday, the senior goaltender turned away good chances from senior forwards Andrew Ammon and Andrew Calof before senior defenseman Jeremy Goodwin rang a shot off the outside of Harvard’s right post late in the frame. The Crimson entered the second intermission with its three-goal lead intact, and Girard finished the night with 26 saves.

In Harvard’s last tune-up before the Beanpot, the win provided some breathing room near the bottom of the ECAC standings. The Tigers currently sit three points behind the 10th-place Crimson, who will face Northeastern on Monday. Donato said that Harvard will have to be less complacent at TD Garden for the program to advance to its first Beanpot championship game since 2008.

“We had chances to bury [the game tonight]. We weren’t trying to get the fourth and the fifth goal,” Donato said. “Hopefully, we learn a little bit of [a] lesson that the game can turn in a hurry and that we really…need to keep the foot on the gas pedal.”

—Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at michael.ledecky@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @MDLedecky.