Crimson Handed First Loss

Boxscore

TROY, N.Y.-Rensselaer scored three special-teams goals and withstood heavy Crimson pressure in the third period to give the No. 18 Harvard men's hockey team its first loss of the year, 3-2, in its first road game Friday night at Houston Field House.

The Engineers (2-5-1, 1-1-0 ECAC Hockey) got goals from three different players, one shorthanded and two on the power play, and 26 saves from Matthias Lange.

Eleven of Lange's saves, many on shots close to the net, came in a Crimson-controlled third period.

Seniors Steve Rolecek and Nick Coskren had Harvard's goals, with junior defenseman Alex Biega assisting on each. Harvard (2-1-0, 2-1-0) held a 28-26 edge in shots and twice quickly cut two-goal leads in half but could not find an equalizer in the game's final six minutes. Freshman Matt Hoyle logged 23 saves.

Neither team scored in the first period despite five penalties being called in the frame, three on Rensselaer and two on Harvard. The whistles started early, with RPI's Peter Merth being called for interference just 21 seconds after the opening faceoff. The Engineers killed that penalty and the Crimson notched a successful kill of its own almost immediately afterward. No one could convert on the remaining three man advantages, either, and Rensselaer held an 8-2 edge in first-period shots.

The Crimson got the first power-play chance of the second, but it was the Engineers getting a goal. Paul Kerins had the tally, carrying the puck out of his own end on a two-on-one break and electing to shoot. Hoyle got a piece of the shot, but the puck trickled in for a 1-0 RPI lead.

Minutes after Lange made a point-blank save on a charging Rolecek, another Harvard penalty led to another RPI goal. Matt Angers-Goulet snuck a shot into a top corner on the rush after Patrick Cullen brought the puck down the ice and fed it to him.

Rolecek made his next chance count, netting his first goal of the year less than two minutes after the Engineers' second tally. After getting the puck from Biega, Rolecek found some space in the slot and fired a shot high to the stick side and past Lange. The goal cut the RPI lead to 2-1 at 9:51 of the second.

When Patrick Cullen crashed into Hoyle after a whistle and a scrum ensued, both teams were put down a man. A later RPI penalty gave Harvard a 40-second four-on-three advantage. Sophomore Pier-Olivier Michaud had two chances during the advantage, but both shots were stopped by Lange, who also made a save on Biega. The Engineers took the one-goal lead to the second intermission despite a 14-9 Harvard edge in second-period shots.

The Crimson continued to draw penalties in the third period, earning two power plays in the first half of the frame. Lange made two outstanding stops on each Harvard advantage and got help from the post on a Biega shot. The RPI goalie then made four saves in flurries following the second power play.

Rensselaer capitalized when it got a power-play chance. While on a four-on-three advantage, Chase Polacek blasted home a one-timer from the high slot after exchanging passes with Mark Zarbo.

The two-goal edge was again short-lived, as Harvard gained another power play and Coskren scored his second goal of the year and the Crimson's second of the game. Alex Biega started the play by drawing a penalty killer toward him on the right point. He slipped the puck down to brother Michael Biega, who skated into the middle and put a shot on net. Coskren buried the rebound at 13:57, barely two minutes after the Polacek goal.

With a pair of blocked shots, Rensselaer limited Harvard to just one shot on goal, off the stick of Coskren, after the senior trimmed the lead to a single goal.

The Crimson stays in the Capital District to take on Union Saturday night in Schenectady, N.Y.