Harvard Falls at Cornell

Photo by DSPics.com

Boxscore

ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell forward Riley Nash broke a second-period tie with his second goal of the game as the 14th-ranked Big Red overcame a 35-save effort by Crimson goaltender Matt Hoyle and held on for a 2-1 win against the No. 18 Harvard men’s hockey team Friday night at Lynah Rink.

Sophomore Michael Biega gave the Crimson (4-3-1, 4-3-1 ECAC Hockey, 1-1-1 Ivy League) a first-period lead, but the Big Red (3-0-2, 3-0-2, 2-0-0) tied the game and took advantage of four Harvard penalties in the second period to go on top. Cornell hung on to snap Harvard’s four-game winning streak in the rivalry and end a three-game unbeaten run by the Crimson.

After much of the first five minutes were played in the neutral zone, Biega got the Crimson on the board at the 5:41 mark. After a big hit by sophomore Matt McCollem dislodged the puck from a Big Red player, freshman Peter Starrett collected it and dumped it into the Cornell zone. Scrivens went behind his net to play the puck, but Biega took it from him, wrapped it around and stuffed it inside the right post. The assist was Starrett’s first career point.

It took the Big Red less than four minutes to tie the score. Locke Jillson and Colin Greening worked to earn possession in the right corner and slid the puck to Riley Nash in the slot. The sophomore scored on a quick shot to the left side of the net.

Harvard’s first good chance to regain the lead came with about six minutes left in the frame, when freshman Alex Killorn made a nice move and was stopped by Scrivens on the right post. The Cornell goalie gloved sophomore Pier-Olivier Michaud’s rebound attempt and junior Ian Tallett’s point shot through traffic soon after.

Cornell had its chance at the lead on a power play in the final minute of the first period. Greening’s shot through a crowd went off the crossbar, and Hoyle lunged to his right to stop Evan Barlow’s second-chance attempt. The Big Red had a 10-8 edge in first-period shots.

The Big Red found more iron while on the man advantage with eight minutes left in the second period. Riley Nash passed the puck out of the left corner, where Brendon Nash was waiting to tip it. The deflected puck hit the right post and stayed out, and the game stayed tied, 1-1.

The teams traded overlapping penalties and short power plays, but neither scored. The Big Red got another power play, and Riley Nash put Cornell ahead at 16:51 of the second. After senior Jimmy Fraser went down to block a shot, the Big Red had a flurry of shots from in front of the left side of the crease, with Nash’s shot finally trickling over the goal line.

Hoyle made a pair of big saves on Greening to keep the Crimson in the game with about eight minutes left in the third period. Following a defensive-zone faceoff, the Cornell captain took the puck and took off the other way on a breakaway. Hoyle got his right pad out for the first save and kept his skate against the post as he went down to make another pad stop. He added another big save on Greening on a two-on-one break with just about a minute left.

Harvard pulled Hoyle in the final minute but could not break through for a chance to tie. Scrivens finished with 14 saves as Cornell held a 37-14 edge in shots and became the first team to hold the Crimson without a power-play goal. The Crimson was 0 for 4 on the man advantage, while Cornell finished 1 for 6.

The Crimson continues its central-New York road trip Saturday night at Colgate.