No. 9 Harvard Men's Ice Hockey Posts Mixed Results Over Winter Break Heading into Critical Stretch | Sports - Harvard Crimson

The Harvard men’s crystal hockey squad faces a daunting docket successful the coming weeks, with location games against No. 16 Cornell and No. 1 Quinnipiac preceding the archetypal circular of the Beanpot Tournament against No. 18 Boston College. Despite returning cardinal players to the lineup successful the past fewer weeks, including elder guardant and skipper John Farinacci, the Crimson is inactive searching for consistency arsenic it looks to determination past a mixed wintertime interruption and deed its stride done a challenging schedule.

“I deliberation we're inactive forming immoderate chemistry and antithetic combinations,” caput manager Ted Donato said. “We person to beryllium capable to…find antithetic ways to beryllium palmy erstwhile teams effort to beryllium precise dependable defensively and clog up the neutral zone. I deliberation we’ve got to find a mode to…use our velocity to get successful connected forechecks and beryllium capable to play and make violative chances that way.”

In its archetypal crippled backmost from wintertime interruption connected December 30, the Crimson battled the No. 5 Boston University Terriers astatine Walter Brown Arena successful a top-10 showdown. Terriers guardant Quinn Hutson scored connected the powerfulness play conscionable implicit 2 minutes into the game, but elder goaltender Mitchell Gibson and BU goaltender Drew Commesso rapidly took control. Despite allowing the aboriginal goal, Gibson enactment unneurotic an exceptional performance, and Commesso matched him prevention for prevention until a precocious tying extremity from sophomore guardant Matthew Coronato. Despite Harvard forcing overtime precocious successful the 3rd period, Terriers skipper Domenick Fensore scored disconnected the unreserved with little than a infinitesimal remaining successful OT, securing a hard-fought 2-1 triumph for BU.

“I felt similar we battled, but I don't deliberation we were arsenic crisp arsenic we could person been,” said Donato connected the nonaccomplishment to the Terriers.

Despite suffering a hard decision little than 48 hours earlier, Harvard started 2023 connected a beardown note, defeating the Northeastern University Huskies 8-4 successful beforehand of a sold-out location assemblage connected New Year’s Day. Six antithetic Crimson players scored, including inferior guardant Ryan Drkulec and first-year guardant Philip Tresca, who each recorded their archetypal collegiate goals. Despite Harvard controlling play aboriginal and maintaining a 3-0 vantage aboriginal successful the 2nd period, the Huskies rapidly came to life, tying the crippled by the precocious stages of the period. However, precocious second-period goals from first-year forwards Casey Severo and Joe Miller restored the Crimson advantage, and Tresca and inferior guardant Alex Laferriere enactment the finishing touches connected the triumph successful the 3rd period.

Harvard began its archetypal roadworthy travel of 2023 against the Princeton Tigers connected January 6. After a scoreless archetypal period, the Tigers took power successful the 2nd period, riding 2 goals from skipper Liam Gorman to a 3-0 pb entering the last 20 minutes of action. However, the Crimson refused to spell distant quietly. Coronato chopped into the shortage connected the powerfulness play midway done the 3rd period, and goals from Miller and Coronato 16 seconds isolated precocious successful regularisation sent the crippled to OT tied astatine 3-3. In overtime, an outstanding idiosyncratic effort from Laferriere provided the game-winner, completing Harvard’s comeback and the Crimson’s play expanse of the Tigers.

Despite the thrilling triumph implicit Princeton, Harvard’s momentum crushed to a halt the adjacent nighttime against the Quinnipiac Bobcats. The Bobcats, presently ranked No. 1 successful the NCAA, are 2nd nationally successful goals per crippled and archetypal successful goals-against per game. Quinnipiac enactment 2 goals connected the committee successful the archetypal period, creating discourtesy connected a partial breakaway and disconnected a well-executed give-and-go. The Bobcats extended their pb successful the 2nd play by cleaning up a lively rebound successful beforehand of the net, and portion sophomore guardant Alex Gaffney pulled the Crimson wrong 2 with a extremity aboriginal successful the 3rd period, Quinnipiac goaltender Yaniv Perets, who ranks 4th successful the federation with a 1.75 goals-against average, slammed the doorway connected a imaginable comeback with a beardown 3rd period, handing Harvard its archetypal decision of 2023.

“Quinnipiac I thought played a precise bully game,” Donato said. “We weren't capable to get capable going successful the archetypal fewer periods to beryllium capable to not pursuit the game.”

Back astatine location connected January 13, Harvard overcame an aboriginal shortage to decision Clarkson University 4-1. Junior goaltender Derek Mullahy, seeing his archetypal enactment since November, posted an fantabulous performance, redeeming 25 of 26 shots. Farinacci besides rejoined the lineup for his archetypal enactment of the season, signaling 2 powerfulness play assists successful his instrumentality from injury.

“Feels bully to beryllium back, with a long, agelong mates of months being out. Physically feeling a batch better,” Farinacci said. “There's thing similar playing games.”

Within the archetypal six minutes of the game, Thrun was forced to the container for interference and gave the Golden Knights a powerfulness play, which they converted via a extremity by All-American Alex Campbell. Coronato responded immediately, capitalizing connected Harvard’s archetypal powerfulness play to necktie the crippled astatine 1-1 aft the archetypal period. The Crimson dominated the 2nd play with 19 shots connected goal, but Clarkson goaltender Ethan Haider kept the onslaught astatine bay. Harvard continued the violative aggression into the 3rd period, starting with a powerfulness play vantage carried implicit from the extremity of the second. Again the Crimson capitalized, arsenic inferior guardant Sean Farrell enactment Harvard successful beforehand 2-1. Goals from Gaffney and Miller aboriginal successful the 3rd play provided captious insurance, giving the Crimson a 4-1 triumph successful its captain’s instrumentality to action.

“John is simply a existent important portion of our group…he's been a person for america and a existent productive subordinate each implicit the spot successful each situations; an older, much mature center-iceman that's been done immoderate large games, whether that's successful the league oregon adjacent U.S. World Juniors,” Donato said.

The pursuing night, with Mullahy again betwixt the posts, the Crimson welcomed the St. Lawrence Saints to Bright-Landry Hockey Center. Harvard started with a ascendant archetypal period, scoring 3 goals connected 13 shots, with Farrell tallying 2 goals and Miller signaling one. Miller and first-year defenseman Ryan Healey capped disconnected the scoring with 2nd play goals, and Mullahy continued his beardown play successful net, posting 23 saves for his archetypal vocation shutout.

“I deliberation that we've had immoderate guys successful and retired of the lineup, which a batch of teams do, but I thought we made a measurement successful the close absorption past weekend,” Donato said.

In the Crimson’s 2nd gathering of the play with Yale connected January 20th, Harvard took down the Bulldogs successful a 3-2 OT win. With Gibson backmost successful nett aft a play off, the Bulldogs gave the Crimson each they could handle, taking the archetypal pb of the crippled midway done the archetypal period. Harvard failed to respond for the remainder of the first, but came retired swinging successful the second, with goals from Miller and first-year defenseman Mason Langenbrunner (the archetypal of his career) putting the Crimson backmost successful front. Yale tied the crippled 4 minutes later, and aft a scoreless 3rd period, the bitter rivals headed for overtime tied astatine 2-2. After a back-and-forth other session, Coronato tallied the winning extremity with 19 seconds to play, utilizing a bid of moves successful the crease to descent location the game-winner and unafraid Harvard’s play expanse of the Bulldogs.

Despite the thrilling triumph connected Friday, Harvard fell level successful a Saturday nighttime decision against the Brown Bears. Brown came retired quick, scoring wrong the archetypal 3 minutes of the game. However, Farrell answered little than a infinitesimal later, signaling his 14th extremity and 29th constituent of the season. The crippled remained tied until the 2nd period, erstwhile the Bears potted 2 goals to assertion a 3-1 vantage heading into the 3rd period. The Crimson turned up the unit connected Brown successful the third, outshooting the Bears 19-2, but contempt a precocious tally from Farrell, Brown held connected for a 3-2 victory.

“I deliberation we're inactive trying to find the due look to find accordant success,” Donato said.

With players moving successful and retired of the lineup, Harvard’s enactment combinations person often been successful flux, but Farinacci believes the team’s beardown chemistry volition marque immoderate adjustments seamless.

“We're each beauteous adjacent connected the team…you tin benignant of propulsion anybody unneurotic and benignant of marque things happen, which I deliberation is simply a large portion astir our team,” Farinacci said. “Whatever comes our way, I deliberation everybody's benignant of acceptable for it.”

Harvard has a 2 crippled homestand this upcoming weekend, taking connected ECAC rivals Colgate and Cornell. Both volition bring competitory hockey to Bright-Landry, particularly connected Saturday against longtime rival and No. 16 Cornell.

“Our guys volition beryllium excited to person these intense, emotional, important games coming up,” Donato said.

—Staff writer Aaron B. Shuchman tin beryllium reached astatine aaron.shuchman@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Bridget T. Sands tin beryllium reached astatine bridget.sands@thecrimson.com.