Men's Hockey Secures First Win at Brown Since 2011

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—After the Harvard men’s hockey team bowed out of last year’s Beanpot, the Crimson needed more than a few days to recover.

Four days after its double-overtime defeat, Harvard—ranked sixth in the country—looked lost in a 3-0 loss at Yale. One night later, the Crimson hit rock bottom, falling to a Brown team that entered the contest with just one conference win in 15 tries.

History had a chance to repeat itself this weekend, as No. 7/7 Harvard embarked on the same ECAC road trip—only in reverse order—after falling to No. 4/4 Boston College in Monday’s Beanpot semifinals. But this time, the Crimson avoided falling victim to the post-Beanpot blues, kicking off the weekend with a 3-2 win over the Bears at Pollard Family Rink.

Harvard (13-5-3, 9-3-3 ECAC) controlled the bulk of the first two periods on Friday, jumping out to a 2-0 edge less than a minute into the middle frame. But after Brown (4-15-4, 2-11-3) made something out of nothing on two separate occasions to pull even at two, the Crimson needed to utilize a late power play in order to squeeze out its first road win over the Bears since Feb. 22, 2011.

With less than four minutes to play in regulation, Harvard’s first line went to work. After defenseman Tyler Wood knocked junior Alexander Kerfoot off the puck with a big hit behind the Brown net, co-captain Kyle Criscuolo jumped into the mix and tipped the puck back to his center.

Co-captain Kyle Criscuolo scored the game-winner for the Crimson with just 3:15 remaining in regulation. By Jake Meagher

Kerfoot pounced, wrapping around junior goaltender Tim Ernst’s left post and attempting a shot before Bears rookie Tommy Marchin got his stick in the way. But with Ernst down on all fours, the puck squirted its way to the far post, where Criscuolo hammered home the game-winner with 3:15 remaining.

“We just found a way,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “It would have been a frustrating one to have slip away because I thought we really played well…. Our effort in the third was good, and we found a way to win.”

The power play—just the Crimson’s second of the game—was awarded to Harvard after an official deemed Brown forward Max Willman tripped sophomore Wiley Sherman as the defenseman moved beyond his own blue line with 4:26 to go. Willman made minor contact with Sherman’s left leg, but the 6’7” blue-liner spun around like a top after being bumped, prompting the referee to raise his arm.

Co-captain Jimmy Vesey scored his 17th goal of the season in the second period but had another one waved off on this shot from above the slot. By Jake Meagher

The call proved to be a crucial one in a game that felt one-sided just one period earlier. Harvard looked poised to run away with the contest late in the second period when co-captain Jimmy Vesey netted what appeared to be his second goal of the game to put the Crimson up 3-0. But the senior’s rip from above the slot was disallowed after the referees ruled Kerfoot interfered with Ernst atop the goalmouth.

Skating with new life, the Bears lit the lamp just one minute later. With about a foot separating Marchin and the goal line, the Barnstable, Mass., native somehow found a hole against sophomore netminder Merrick Madsen with 1:08 to go in the period, cutting the lead in half.

Then 4:57 into the final frame, junior forward Zack Pryzbek scored from nearly the same impossible angle on the opposite end of the rink, turning and blasting a shot over the left shoulder of Madsen from deep in the right corner to even the score at two.

“They scored two goals off of what I would say are pucks they just threw at the net,” Donato said. “I’m not sure that either one of them would be considered a good scoring chance.”

The two wild shots erased the lead Harvard built over the first 21 minutes. With just over five to play in the opening period, Sherman opened the scoring with a slapper from the blue line off a feed from Vesey. Until seeing the celebrations in front of him, Ernst thought he made the save, but the puck trickled through the junior’s pads at 14:37.

Then 25 seconds into the middle frame, Kerfoot intercepted a Josh McArdle shot and split the seam between two defenders with a pass ahead to Vesey, who fired a wrister into the top right corner of the net on the breakaway.

“I don’t even think he got all of it,” Kerfoot said with a laugh. “When you’re as good as he is, you kind of get some bounces like that.”

With two assists on the game, Kerfoot now has 23 helpers on the season—good for fifth in the country. Meanwhile, Vesey now has 17 goals and 34 points in 21 games.

“He’s a pretty special player,” Kerfoot said. “In my opinion, he’s the best player in the country. When you get him in one-on-one with the goalie, he’s going to score most of the time.”

Vesey did come up short on a second breakout opportunity with 1:28 remaining, as Ernst stoned the co-captain, who aimed for the same right corner. That would be the last of Ernst's 30 saves on the night, as Brown could not muster another equalizer, allowing the Crimson to hold on for its ninth ECAC win.

Now 7-0-1 in Ivy League play, Harvard will have a chance to secure its first Ancient Eight crown in 10 years tomorrow night against Yale at Ingalls Rink, where the Crimson has not won a regular season game since January 2005.

“It’s something we talked about at the beginning of the year wanting to do,” Criscuolo said. “It’s super important to our team, so we’re excited for the opportunity.”

—Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jake.meagher@thecrimson.com.