Men's Hockey Falls Short Against Rival Yale

Assuming the underdog role at No. 26 Clarkson last Friday, the Harvard men’s hockey team (9-13-4, 5-10-4 ECAC) managed to pull off an upset. Up against another ranked foe in No. 14 Yale (14-8-4, 9-7-3) this past Friday, the Crimson was not quite as fortunate.

In a rematch that drew several parallels to last month’s Rivalry on Ice contest at Madison Square Garden, the Bulldogs utilized a three-goal scoring outburst in the second period to top Harvard, 5-2.

“We were all getting pretty pumped up for this game,” freshman forward Alexander Kerfoot said. “It’s obviously always exciting to get [Yale], and it’s easy to get up for those games, so it’s fun. But we didn’t really bring it in all aspects of the game, and didn’t come out of the game with a win.”

Just like in January, the Crimson entered the first intermission even with the Bulldogs. But goals in the second frame from a trio of Yale sophomores—Stu Wilson, Matthew Beattie, and Ryan Obuchowski—helped build what proved to be an insurmountable lead.

Nonetheless, Harvard attempted to mount a comeback in the final stanza. After Bulldog forward Frankie DiChiara took away a breakaway opportunity from sophomore forward Brian Hart with a hook, the Crimson took advantage on the ensuing power play.

Surrounded by four Yale skaters, Kerfoot carried a puck over the blue line and fired a low shot that was stopped by the left blocker of Bulldog goaltender Alex Lyon. But the puck bounced right back out to the freshman, who capitalized on his second opportunity, cutting the deficit to 3-1 with 15:29 remaining.

Harvard finished the night two-for-four on the man advantage after Hart added a power-play goal of his own later in the period. But it was the special teams play of Yale that stole the show.

With nine minutes remaining in the contest, a cross-checking call sent Crimson forward Luke Esposito to the box. On the subsequent power play, Bulldog captain Jesse Root corralled a pass from forward Kenny Agostino and ripped a shot from the right circle past the glove of Harvard goaltender Steve Michalek, essentially sealing the win.

“We took a couple of needless penalties and weren’t able to do a good job killing their power play,” Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “[That was] the difference in the game.”

Root’s score—the first of two for the senior—marked the third conversion of the night by Yale’s power play unit. Now having surrendered five such goals in its last two games, Harvard has fallen from third to 12th in the nation in penalty killing, currently boasting a 84.7 percent kill rate.

The Bulldogs began their work on the man advantage less than five minutes into the second period. Without much of an angle, Wilson unleashed a shot from the bottom of the right circle, but Michalek allowed just enough space on his left post for the puck to sneak through, as Yale took its first lead of the night.

All of the momentum then shifted in the Bulldogs’ favor. The Crimson had established a strong physical presence and had controlled the pace of play in the opening frame, but after falling behind, the team lost its edge.

“We had a little bit of a letdown after they scored the first goal,” Donato said. “The nature of it put us back on our heels a little bit.”

As aforementioned by Donato, Yale’s next score caught Harvard off guard. Midway through the period, freshman defenseman Clay Anderson lost his glove, so when play shifted to the opposite end of the ice, he skated toward the bench to retrieve it.

But at the same time, Bulldog defenseman Gus Young gained control of the puck and sent a long pass to Beattie who skated right through the vacant hole in the Crimson defense, easily beating Michalek on a breakaway.

Three minutes later, Harvard nearly cut the deficit in half. From his own blue line, Hart sent a cross-ice pass to sophomore forward Jimmy Vesey, who gained a step on a Yale defenseman and carried the puck in on Lyon. But Vesey lost control on the doorstep, and afterwards, the Crimson was whistled for a charging penalty behind the net.

As a result, the Bulldogs quickly capitalized on the power play again, as Obuchowski found a seam in the Harvard defense and notched his fourth goal of the season. Earning an assist on the play was Agostino, who now has 14 points in his career against the Crimson.

“We didn’t play smart enough to win the hockey game,” Donato said. “We got beat with special teams and goaltending, and that’s usually a tough recipe to overcome.”

—Staff writer Jake T. Meagher can be reached at jmeagher@college.harvard.edu.