No. 19 Harvard Outlasts Cornell

Photo by Steve Babineau

Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, MA - Sophomore defenseman Brian McCafferty scored the game-winning goal at 7:30 of the third period, and the Harvard men's hockey team shut down Cornell for the rest of the game en route to a 2-1 win against its rival Friday night at Bright Hockey Center.

Senior Jon Pelle scored a first-period goal for the Crimson (4-1-0, 4-1-0 ECAC Hockey), and sophomore Kyle Richter continued his dominance between the pipes with 22 saves. Harvard won its fourth straight game overall and the fourth in its last five meetings against the Big Red (3-3-0, 3-2-0).

McCafferty's goal was his second of the year and was the result of some hard work by freshman Matt McCollem with the score tied at 1-1 in the third. McCollem got the puck from senior Paul Dufault behind the net. He skated around the back of the net and tried to stuff the puck between the right pad of Ben Scrivens and the post. As McCollem took a hit, the rebound found its way to the stick of a charging McCafferty, whose shot snuck through Scrivens and in.

The Crimson used a physical presence to limit the Big Red's chances the rest of the way. A strong forecheck helped keep the puck in the Cornell end, resulting in a 14-4 advantage in third-period shots for Harvard. The Crimson held a 35-23 edge in shots for the game, and Scrivens finished with 33 saves.

Harvard scored first for the fourth straight game as Pelle netted his second goal of the year on a rebound at the 3:25 mark of the first period. He and senior Mike Taylor were working for the puck at the start of the play, Pelle to Scrivens' right and Taylor to his left. As Taylor backhanded a pass to Alex Biega at the point, Pelle circled around to the front of the net. Scrivens got his pad on Biega's one-timer but Pelle was there to slam in the rebound.

Penalty killing has been a key to Harvard's early success, but Cornell took advantage of its first power play to break a streak of 12 straight successful kills for the Crimson. From a crowd in front, Blake Gallagher scored, with assists going to Colin Greening and Riley Nash. The goal ended Richter's scoreless streak at 145 minutes, 37 seconds.

The Crimson killed the final three Cornell power plays and was scoreless on its three man-advantage chances.

Cornell was at its best in the second period, but so was Richter, who has yet to allow a goal in the middle period all season. With just under two minutes to play in the period, Richter stopped chances by Jared Seminoff, Greening and Nash from his left. The Big Red held a 12-8 shot advantage, but could not take the lead.

Harvard took over in the third. The Crimson generated several chances early in the frame, with McCollem and sophomore Chad Morin charging down the right side to start consecutive flurries. Sophomore Doug Rogers, who won 17 of his 21 faceoffs, also put some shots on Scrivens but the sophomore held strong until McCafferty's winner.

The Crimson wraps up the weekend Saturday night, hosting Colgate at 7 p.m.