Leading by three goals halfway through its matchup against Harvard Tuesday, Boston College men’s hockey seemed to be on track to overcome its seven-game win drought. It marked the first time that BC had scored at least three goals since its loss to UConn on Jan. 8.
In BC’s first meeting with Harvard since the 2020 Beanpot consolation game, the Crimson (11–7–2, 8–5–2 ECAC) scored six unanswered goals to stroll to a 6–3 victory over the Eagles (10–12–4, 5–8–3 Hockey East). The contest marked BC’s first game since Marc McLaughlin, Drew Helleson, and Jack McBain left for the Olympics.
The opening frame signaled success for BC. Under two minutes into the game, Brandon Kruse buried a centering pass from Colby Ambrosio behind the red line to give the Eagles a 1–0 lead on their first shot of the night.
Six minutes later, Patrick Giles deflected Trevor Kuntar’s shot-pass past goaltender Mitchell Gibson. The Eagles, who had been searching for their explosive offense, seemed to be off to a solid start.
On the other end of the ice, BC’s defense shined throughout the first period. Led by defensemen Mitch Andres and Marshall Warren, the Eagles blocked 10 of the Crimson’s 25 shots in the first period. BC goaltender Eric Dop also made 10 saves, including a stop on a shorthanded breakaway shot from Harvard’s Jack Donato.
The Eagles continued building on their momentum through two power-play opportunities in the first half of the middle frame. In the eighth minute, Casey Carreau deflected Warren’s shot to give BC a three-goal advantage.
Although the Eagles quickly got out to a 3–0 lead, they found themselves making familiar mistakes. In addition to two minor penalties in the first period, a hooking call on BC in the ninth minute of the second period proved costly, as Matthew Coronato recorded Harvard’s first goal to bring the score to 3–1.
In the last two minutes of the middle frame, a slashing penalty called on Matt Argentina sent Harvard to the power play, and Henry Thrun fired a wrister through Dop’s five hole to put the Crimson within one goal.
Harvard scored four more unanswered goals in the final frame. Just 35 seconds into the third period, John Farinacci directed a rebound into the net, tying the game at three apiece and igniting the Crimson’s momentum.
Argentina received a game misconduct and major penalty for contact to the head one minute after Farinacci’s goal. With 16 seconds left on BC’s five-minute major penalty kill, Zakary Karpa scored Harvard’s third power-play goal to give the Crimson its first lead.
Nineteen seconds later, Ian Moore sniped a shot for Harvard’s fifth unanswered goal of the night, giving the Crimson a two-goal lead. With almost three minutes left in the contest, the Eagles pulled Dop for an extra skater, but a blocked shot allowed Baker Shore to secure a 6–3 win for Harvard with an empty-net goal.
Despite the Eagles’ early scores, the Crimson directed the offensive attack with a 61–35 advantage in shots and 31–22 advantage in shots on goal. Seven penalties, a recurring problem for BC, also shifted the game in Harvard’s favor.
“We … made some really poor puck management decisions that flipped the game on us,” BC head coach Jerry York said in his postgame conference. “As a club, we’ve just got to tighten up defensively, handle the puck better, and just plug along here.”
Featured Image by Ethan Ott / Heights Editor
