Men’s Hockey’s Late Start Leads to Scrappy Loss in Season Opener

The thunderous cheers of the crowd at Bright Landry on Friday night were not enough to propel the men’s hockey team (0-1-0, 0-1-0 ECAC) to victory in its season opener. Despite having home ice advantage against Dartmouth (1-0-0, 1-0-0 ECAC), the Crimson was unable to outskate the Big Green, falling in a hard-fought 2-1 battle.

Both teams played physically in the first period, closing out several big hits along the boards and in open-ice trying to gain an early edge. To secure victory against a tough league opponent, the Crimson would need to start hotter than the Big Green. Both matchups against the Hanover team last season were decided in shootouts. Harvard won both of the overtime deciders, one of which lasted 18 rounds.

But, last night, the Crimson couldn’t bring the heat. In fact, not only was the team’s first period not hot, it was ice cold.

The even flow of the game began to break down after the first few minutes as the home team struggled to gain possession in the offensive zone, and at several points seemed lost in transition before turning over the puck at center ice. In what could only be described as nervous mistakes in front of the roaring crowd, the team failed to execute the basics.

Passing. Protecting the puck. Making the smart plays. The easy stuff. But that’s what was slipping through the cracks for the Crimson in the first period.

Senior captain and defenseman Ian Moore helped describe the poor play early.

“They came out hard, they're a good forechecking team,” Moore said. “We responded to the physicality, but it was a little too late.”

Dartmouth senior right wing Braiden Dorfman was handed a prime opportunity for the Big Green mere minutes into the game. Stealing a sitting blue line puck, the senior skated into the offensive zone and rang it into the back of the net, easily beating junior goaltender Aku Koskenvuo. The Big Green was taking control of Bright Landry.

The Crimson’s defensive meltdown veered on total collapse with another Dartmouth goal moments later, and an errant boarding penalty against Harvard freshman left wing Justin Solovey, adding fuel to Dartmouth’s fire.

When asked after the game about the early blowout, Head Coach Ted Donato ’91 noted that the early deficit all but put the game out of reach for Harvard.

“Catch up hockey is losing hockey,” the longtime coach said.

“I think some of it is mental,” Donato added, emphasizing that managing the puck is a persistent focus in practice but that the results on Friday were not up to par.

The only bright spot for the team through the first 20 minutes wasn’t a contribution to the scoreline, but a successful penalty kill that held Dartmouth’s lead to two.

After the first break, the onus was squarely on Harvard to turn the tide of the game and overcome the two-goal deficit.

In Moore’s eyes, the early hole was a chance for the team’s younger core to demonstrate the progress that they have made leading up to the season.

“I think the guys have worked really hard,” he said. “I feel like we've covered a lot of ground over the last little while leading into the season. I'm not displeased with the effort.”

With its players playing cautiously, careful to avoid handing out additional penalty chances to the Big Green, the Crimson played cleaner in the second. In this period, it was Dartmouth who eventually erred, allowing Harvard to notch a key penalty chance and a bid at a comeback.

The Crimson seized the opportunity 11 minutes into the period, scoring on the powerplay from sophomore left wing Ben MacDonald. Fellow sophomore and left wing Ryan Fine assisted, carrying the puck below the goal line and passing it to MacDonald, who tipped it in over the goaltenders left pad. The score was 2-1.

In the last period, each team was dinged with sizable penalties for scrums after the whistle, reflecting the urgency Harvard felt to tie the score and the steely resolve of Dartmouth to close it out. Though Harvard continued to create opportunities offensively, with the shot total reaching nearly forty by the two-minute mark, it was ultimately unable to come back.

Going forward, the Crimson will look to clean up its first-period defense and convert on more of its man-up chances — Donato’s squad managed to put the puck in the net on one out of five power plays, only managing to even get a shot off on two out of five.

The Crimson will continue the search for its first win this week in a Friday and Saturday doubleheader on the road against the Princeton Tigers and Quinnipiac Bobcats. Both games start at 7:00 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Nate M. Bolan can be reached at nathan.bolan@thecrimson.com.