The Harvard men's hockey team (6-10-6) lost 4-3 to Cornell University (12-6-4) in the first game of the best-of-three ECAC Tournament quarterfinals. The Crimson, seeded No. 8 in the playoff berth, were unable to carry on the momentum from last weekend's conference win against Princeton. Head coach Ted Donato will look to rally his bench for a return performance tomorrow night against the Big Red Bears.
Both teams arrived at a packed Raina Rink on Friday night looking for an early advantage heading into Game 1 of this three-game playoff series. Cornell University had the upper hand in the early stages, but Harvard University did not take a step back and was able to make a strong comeback. In the end, the last effort wasn't enough to pull out the victory, giving the Big Red a win over the Crimson.
“Great environment, great crowd,” Donato said of the atmosphere at the game. “There was a lot of emotion in the game and it was a very physical game.”
Cornell University 4, Harvard University 3
Cornell wasted no time making an impact early on, scoring its first goal less than five minutes into the first period. Junior forward Jack O'Leary hit a shot from the point through traffic into pay dirt, which found the net. Less than three minutes later, Big Red struck again. That's when third-year forward Sullivan Mack picked up a rebound that put Harvard sophomore goaltender Aku Koshkenvuo on his back, increasing Cornell's lead to 2-0. Just a few minutes later, the Crimson had a chance to cut the lead in half, but the Big Red received a tripping penalty just past the midway point of the period. Despite having some strong scoring chances from their power play unit, Harvard was unable to score a goal. Then, with less than a minute left in the period and just when it looked like the team would escape with a 2-0 score, Cornell freshman forward Ryan Walsh sent a shot past Koskenvuo's left shoulder. Several players lost sight of the puck in front of the net, leading to a 3-0 lead heading into the second period.
The period didn't start well, but despite his three goals, Koskenvuo deserves credit for his impressive performance throughout the first 20 minutes on the ice, stopping key shots that could have tilted the momentum even further. You should. big red
The beginning of the second period, when penalties were called, was a far cry from the early Big Red onslaught. Cornell took its first holding penalty less than a minute into the game, and the Crimson quickly converted two penalties, with a hook by freshman forward Ryan Fine and a slash by junior defenseman Jack Barr. Big Red scored. 5-3 advantage. After Fine was released from the box and play returned to 5-on-4, when sophomore forward Nick DeSantis shot the puck toward the net, the puck hit the stick of Harvard junior captain Ian Moore, who deflected it. The deflection extended Cornell's lead. Behind the net. A few minutes later, junior defenseman Cristian Jimenez committed another penalty for the Crimson, but the penalty kill unit was able to fend off the attack of the Big Red's power play unit.
Asked about the frequency of penalties in this game, Donato said, “I can't say that I thought every penalty was justified.” “I think it was a little tough to fully grasp the standards of the game. And as players and as a coaching staff, we have to understand how the game is called and try to adapt to that. It won’t.”
Just past the midway point of the period, Harvard finally got going, with sophomore forward Joe Miller converting a rebound off a shot by sophomore defenseman Mason Langenbrunner to make the score 4-1. This goal marked a turning point in the intensity of the game for the Crimson, who became more aggressive and aggressive as the game began. Cornell had a man down just five seconds after Miller found the back of the net, and Harvard's offense took full advantage of the power play, creating several dangerous scoring chances. Despite giving the Big Red little breathing room, Cornell junior goaltender Ian Schoen made several big saves throughout the night to protect his team's lead. However, they were unable to convert that score into a goal. The period passed without many clear scoring opportunities for either team, and the teams returned to the locker room with a score of 4-1.
The Crimson struggled to maintain the offensive power it generated at the start of the third period, but the slump didn't last long. Five minutes into the game, freshman forward Cam Johnson took a shot from the left side of the ice, but it was tipped off the stick of sophomore forward Casey Severo, who was screening the goalie. As a result, the momentum seemed to have tilted in Harvard's favor, but the Crimson will have to continue to work its way out of the pack to stay competitive.
After this goal, neither team scored much, but the Crimson scored again with six minutes remaining. Seeing Joe Miller flying up the ice, freshman forward Ben McDonald fired a stretch pass off the boards and found Miller in the offensive zone. Miller split up the defensemen and pushed the puck into Shane's 5-hole to make it a one-goal game.
Junior captain Zachary Culpa said, “I thought we had some tough bounces early on and we didn't perform to our full potential early on.” “But I think we really attacked in the second half and controlled the pace of play to a certain degree, so we'll try to build on that for tomorrow.”
The clock was ticking and with about a minute and a half left, Donato finally made the decision to pass Coskenvuo. The Crimson fought valiantly with their extra players and created several dangerous chances that could have easily resulted in goals, but nothing came of it and they lost the game 4-3. The match ended with a scrum in front of the Cornell net, which shows the attitude of both teams heading into tomorrow's second match.
Asked about the rivalry with Cornell University, Culpa said, “Knowing that we play Cornell University, I think they're going to pull together and have energy.” I think that's good for us and brings a little more power to this series. ”
Harvard will look to bounce back in the second game of this quarterfinal series tomorrow night at 7 p.m. ET at Raina Rink. The game will also be live streamed on ESPN+.
—Staff writer Owen Butler can be reached at owen.butler@thecrimson.com.
