Harvard Blown Out 7-1 in Beanpot Semis Against No. 10 Boston University After Second Period Collapse

At the 72nd annual Beanpot Tournament, the Harvard men’s ice hockey team (7-11-2, 6-7-2 ECAC) dropped the semifinal game to the Boston University Terriers (14-9-1, 10-5-1 HE) in a crushing 7-1 defeat.

The Crimson faced the loss in front of a sparse crowd in TD Garden as part of the annual faceoff between Harvard, BU, Boston College and Northeastern.

Able to start the game on time and score the first goal early in the first period, Harvard would go on to repeatedly turn the puck over and allow BU to penetrate the zone for easy scores in front of the net, which piled up in the second.

Freshman goaltender Ben Charette began in net for the Crimson, his first Beanpot appearance, looking to snag his second win in three weeks — but the Monday matchup proved a long night for the Aurora, Ont. native.

On the powerplay twice in the first period, the Crimson brought its best hockey against freshman Terrier goalie Mikhail Yegorov, with Harvard reigning down nearly twice as many shots on net.

On the first powerplay opportunity, a puck battle in front of the net initiated by junior forward Joe Miller let the puck slide free and onto the stick of fellow junior forward Casey Severo who put it into the open net, giving the Crimson an early 1-0 advantage.

Harvard Head Coach Ted Donato ’91 praised Severo’s performance in an interview after the game.

“The two guys on his line right now can make plays in space and can make plays off the rush, but Casey really goes to the hard areas of the ice,” he said.

But Harvard’s success was short-lived. On the next chance it seemed as though Harvard was playing defense for most of the penalty kill.

Once cleared, the Terriers began to find its footing, and with five minutes left in the period strung together a play beginning behind Charette’s net. The puck was carried by senior BU forward Jack Hughes who passed it off to junior forward Devin Kaplan, who then tucked it just over the goaltender’s left pad.

The Crimson came back on the ice playing well through the first few minutes. They shut down crucial BU passes in front of the Harvard net and entered the zone seemingly as well as it did in the first.

For the rest of the period, though, the Crimson was unable to withstand the Terriers’ pressure — allowing 5 goals in the second period alone.

“I thought in the first period, we kind of took the plays that were right in front of us and made them have to play in their own zone, and I think we got away from that and tried to force some pucks in the middle,” Donato said of the team’s slip in performance.

“They’re a team that's super dangerous off the rush,” he added. “And then once they get you in their zone with their D being as offensive and as mobile as they are they’re going to be able to hold you in there and get some great chances.”

Freshman Justin Solovey fights for the Crimson in game against BU. By Chase W. McCann

A careless high-sticking call against sophomore forward Ben MacDonald put a stop to the Crimson momentum and gave BU its first powerplay of the night.

It took just the opening seconds of the attack for the Terriers to capitalize on Harvard’s mistake.

Sophomore forward Shane LaChance scored his 9th goal of the season from a pass in front of the net before knocking the puck miraculously through Charette’s legs, hitting the top corner.

A routine push up-ice for the Terriers, also in the first six minutes, presented another opportunity to increase the lead.

Freshman BU defenseman Cole Hutson carried the puck from the blue line into the offensive zone, making a forehand-backhand deke in front of the net before forcing it through the arm of the goaltender. BU now led 3-1 with still over half a game to be played.

Hutson’s success in his first Beanpot meant all the more to the Chicago, Ill. native as the third Hutson brother to play in the tournament as a Terrier. His older brother Lane Hutson is one of the top rookies in the National Hockey League playing for the Montreal Canadiens, and junior Quinn Hutson plays alongside his brother.

“I mean, super excited,” said the youngest Hutson of his chance to win a Beanpot. “Obviously got a chance to do something Lane hasn’t done. So hopefully we can get a win.”

Crimson sophomore forward Cam Johnson did his best to bring the team back into the game with his positioning on the ice, setting up a handful of Harvard shots on Yegorov, but all were defended well.

Sophomore Cam Johnson against BU in Monday night's Beanpot. By Chase W. McCann

The collapse continued as Harvard allowed another three goals in the period from Sophomore Terrier forward Jack Harvey, Kaplan and Quinn Hutson. The Crimson finished down 6-1 on the scoreboard with a -15 shot differential on the game.

Harvard settled down in the final period, but, despite earning another powerplay chance, it could not get a goal to go.

Shot attempts in front of the net, from the blue line, and several moments of prolonged offensive zone time failed to make the BU defense and goaltender budge.

A penalty against freshman forward Will Hughes and a second goal for BU’s Hutson would finish the night for Harvard.

Harvard hopes to at least keep pace with the loser of the Northeastern-BC matchup next Monday after tonight’s disastrous loss.

“We’ll try to take what we need to take from this game and then flush it and move on to the next one,” Donato said.

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

—Staff writer Owen Butler can be reached at owen.butler@thecrimson.com.