Men's Hockey Erases 3-0 Deficit, Rallies for 6-3 Win Against Boston College in Possible Beanpot Preview

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Midway through Tuesday night’s matchup between the Harvard Crimson (11-7-2) and the Boston College Eagles (10-12-4) at Kelley Rink with Harvard trailing 3-0, its two-game winning streak looked to be in serious jeopardy.

The Crimson had other ideas.

Harvard roared back to score six unanswered goals and claim a 6-3 victory over the Eagles in a possible preview for the Beanpot Tournament, which begins Feb. 7 at TD Garden.

“We continue to try to establish our identity,” head coach Ted Donato said. “We’ve been battle-tested a little bit recently…for us to persevere and stay with the identity that we know works for our group is important.”

The first period began ominously for the Crimson. Only one minute, 39 seconds into the game, BC center Colby Ambrosio sent a perfect pass from below the goal line to left wing Brandon Kruse, who hammered the puck past junior goaltender Mitchell Gibson for the 1-0 lead. Three Harvard defenders were caught behind the goal line on the play, leaving Kruse completely uncovered.

Despite the Crimson controlling play for the next few minutes, the Eagles doubled their lead eight minutes into the first off a rush chance, where center Patrick Giles, who was streaking through the slot, deflected right wing Trevor Kuntar’s pass from the top of the left faceoff circle past Gibson.

However, despite ending the first period in a 2-0 hole, Harvard controlled play for the majority of the first period, outshooting the Eagles 10-4 and out-attempting them 25-6. The top line of junior forward John Farinacci, sophomore forward Alex Lafferiere, and first-year forward Alex Gaffney continued to click, generating chances with highly effective offensive zone pressure, and senior forward Jack Donato had a shorthanded breakaway denied by BC goaltender Eric Dop.

“We just made a couple mistakes and they ended up in our net,” Ted Donato said. “Our bench felt that we would get chances and that we were in the game even when we were down.”

After the intermission, the Crimson once again started a period slowly, being forced onto the penalty kill twice within the first seven minutes of the second period. The Eagles were unable to convert their first man-advantage, as a loose puck in the crease was cleared away amidst a scramble by the Harvard defense, but they cashed in on their second chance when a shot-pass from defenseman Marshall Warren was redirected into the net by forward Casey Carreau to give the hosts a 3-0 edge.

However, despite facing a three-goal deficit at the halfway point of the game, the Crimson’s power play unit, quarterbacked by junior defenseman Henry Thrun, gave Harvard new life. After a hooking penalty on Eagles defenseman Justin Wells sent the Crimson to the power play, first-year forward Matthew Coronato converted on a wrist shot from just above the goal line off a pass from senior forward and captain Casey Dornbach to cut the BC lead to 3-1.

The power play unit wasn’t done yet. After Farinacci drew a late penalty following a strong cut to the net, Thrun’s wrist shot from the right faceoff circle snuck through Dop’s legs to trim the deficit to 3-2 with 30 seconds left in the second, sending Harvard to the locker room with momentum.

“That was a big goal going into the third,” Thrun said. “It gave us a little more confidence. We knew we had them at five-on-five, and then our power play was cooking, so we had a lot of confidence in the third.”

Contrasting with its sluggish performance to open the first two periods, the Crimson began the third period with authority. Less than 30 seconds in, Laferriere fought through a strong check along the boards to sling the puck into the middle of the ice, where Gaffney’s shot hit the rear boards. However, a lively rebound from Gaffney’s shot found Farinacci, who knocked the puck past Dop to knot the game at 3-3.

“I’ve been playing with my linemates for eight years growing up,” Gaffney said. “They’re amazing players and it makes me better so I’m just trying to keep playing well and do my part of the line.”

Less than a minute later, Coronato was obliterated in the middle of the offensive zone on an illegal check to the head by Eagles forward Matt Argentina, who received a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct. Despite some initial poor puck management on the ensuing power play, Harvard recovered to engineer strong puck possession in the offensive zone for the final 90 seconds of the man-advantage, and first-year forward Zakary Karpa hammered home a rebound off a Thrun shot to put the Crimson in front 4-3.

“He’s obviously a pretty highly touted player and someone that we all look after,” Thrun said of Coronato, who remained in the game after the hit. “That kind of fires us up a little bit more to see a hit like that.”

The momentum only continued to grow for the Crimson. Only 19 seconds later, first-year defenseman Ian Moore rocketed a slap shot from the top of the circle through Dop to extend the lead to 5-3 and record his first collegiate goal. Senior forward Baker Shore added an empty-net goal with just over two minutes remaining to secure the 6-3 final.

“We’re learning on the go here, and I think we’re improving,” Ted Donato said. “Guys are really focused on improvement and development.”

Harvard returns to action this Friday at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center versus Dartmouth College, before facing Boston University on Monday in the opening game of the 2022 Beanpot Tournament at TD Garden.
-Staff writer Aaron B. Shuchman can be reached at aaron.shuchman@thecrimson.com.