Men's Hockey Edges No. 16/15 Colgate, 2-1

Goals from senior defender Danny Fick and freshman forward Phil Zielonka propelled the Harvard men’s hockey team (10-14-4, 6-11-4 ECAC) to a 2-1 victory at No. 16/15 Colgate (16-12-5, 12-6-3) in the penultimate game of the regular season.

After a scoreless second period, Zielonka broke a 1-1 stalemate less than seven minutes into the final frame of regulation. After receiving a redirected Colgate clearing attempt from sophomore linemate Greg Gozzo, Zielonka split the legs of freshman defender Brett Corkey and beat rookie goaltender Charlie Finn glove-side with a high wrist shot from just inside the right faceoff circle.

The Raiders got on the board first with a power play marker from sophomore forward Murphy Darcy at 7:39 in the opening frame. Minutes later, Harvard failed to find the back of the net on an extended 5-on-3 opportunity after Colgate was whistled for consecutive penalties 36 seconds apart.

The Crimson’s tying response came from the unlikeliest of its skaters. With just over two minutes left in the first period, Fick rushed the Colgate crease and batted a crossing feed from freshman forward Luke Esposito out of the air and past Finn for the senior defender’s first career goal in 93 collegiate games played. Fick's strike also ended a streak of 33 straight goals scored by Crimson underclassmen.

Colgate outshot Harvard, 9-2, in the third period, but sophomore goaltender Steve Michalek finished with 33 saves to collect his fifth win of the season. The victory was the Crimson's first road win over the Raiders since 2006.

With only Cornell left on Harvard's regular season schedule, the Crimson sits in a three-way tie for ninth place in the ECAC and within a point of home ice for the first round of the postseason conference tournament.

--Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at Michael.Ledecky@thecrimson.com

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