CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Once the Harvard Crimson smelled blood in the water, they pounced on the Boston College Eagles en route to a 5-2 victory at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
With the hosts up 2-1 after 40 minutes of play, they scored three in a row to extend the lead 5-1. The goal barrage started 3:50 into the final period on the power play as a scrum ensued in front of BC goalie Joe Woll’s cage and Luke Esposito put home his third goal of the season. Clay Anderson and and Sean Malone had the assists.
The Crimson went back on the power play as a mini line brawl ensued after Esposito’s goal. Anderson and Chris Calnan each received a roughing and ten-minute misconduct while Casey Fitzgerald received two minutes for roughing to give the Crimson the power play.
Thirty-three seconds into the man advantage, Tyler Moy notched his second goal of the game with Alexander Kerfoot and Adam Fox setting the goal up.
Harvard went 3-for-7 on the power play while BC was 1-for-6.
“Obviously when you are playing a fast team like BC, I think the team really arose to the occasion,” Moy said. “Obviously we got great goaltending, the game got broken up because of penalties. I think in general, all four lines were going.”
The barrage on Woll came to an end 13 seconds later at the 4:39 mark when Sean Malone notched his fifth goal of the year with John Marino and Wiley Sherman given credit with the assists.
The Eagles cut the deficit to 5-2 as Casey Fitzgerald scored a power play goal with 7:09 into the third period.
Ryan Edquist (five saves) came in relief for Woll, who was credited with 28 saves. Merrick Madsen made 33 saves in the victory.
“Not really, it happens, we have been on the other end of it at times too,” Harvard coach Ted Donato said if he was surprised to see the game turned the way it did. “I thought it was a great atmosphere and sometimes that gets momentum going. We were hungry around the net – we got second and third opportunities. You never expect it, but you sure hope for it.”
Both teams came out firing in the first period as BC had 14 shots on goal while Harvard had nine shots.
The Eagles sustained pressure throughout their first power play of the game which came 1:50 into the game. They continued to pepper Madsen after the man advantage was over.
“I have to give them credit, they forced us to do a lot better job of defending than we had to this year,” Ted Donato said.
Harvard shots came in spurts throughout the period. Their best chance was when Ryan Donato dove for the puck, got a stick on it and directed it towards the BC net. Woll made the stop, but the referees went to review the play and the play stood as no goal.
At the end of the first period , BC went on a 5-on-3 power play as Harvard was called for too many men on the ice with 2:36 remaining followed by a hooking call on Jacob Olson 46 seconds later. Again the Eagles peppered Madsen, but the game remained scoreless as the teams went to the locker room.
“First period, we had three power plays and moved the puck a lot,” Boston College coach Jerry York said. “We did some really good things and then we got in the penalty situation in the second and third period. But they were good, I was impressed with Harvard’s team. I am sure we will see them later on throughout the year. Our objective is to be better the next time we play them.”
In the second period, it was the Crimson who had the power play advantage as they had two in the first six minutes of the period. Woll was solid during the the penalty-kill situations for the Eagles.
It was the Eagles who got on the board first, just past the midway point of the second period. Michael Kim’s point shot went on net, Christopher Brown gathered the puck and lifted it into the goal for his fifth goal of the season.
With 6:08 remaining in the period, Alexander Kerfoot tied the game for Harvard on the team’s third power play of the stanza as the puck was shot in from the slot. He fought for space right above the crease to jam home the puck. Seb Lloyd and Adam Fox had the helpers on the play.
Tyler Moy gave the Crimson the 2-1 lead when Harvard crashed the BC goal. Woll through the traffic lost sight of the puck that was sitting behind him in the crease, all Moy had to do was give the puck some momentum to get it across the goal line for his fourth goal of the season. Sean Malone and Luke Esposito set the tally up.
Other ECAC results
Clarkson 3, Brown 2
Haralds Egle’s goal with just over four minutes remaining lifted Clarkson to a 3-2 victory over visiting Brown. Devin Brosseau netted the other two goals for the Golden Knights Charlie Corcoran and Tim lappin scored for Brown.
Colgate 4, Princeton 3
Andrew Black’s goal midway through the third period proved to be the game-winner in the Raiders win over Princeton. Charlie Finn made a career-high 47 saves for Colgate and recorded the 50th victory of his career.
No. 4 Quinnipiac 3, Cornell 1
Craig Martin had a goal and assist as fourth-ranked Quinnipiac broke a 1-1 tie with a pair of second period goals at the Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y.
No. 20 St. Lawrence 5, Yale 2
Joe Sullivan had a goal and an assist as No. 20 St. Lawrence jumped out to a 5-0 lead en route to a 5-2 win over visiting Yale.
No. 14 Ohio State 4, RPI 0
Matt Tomkins stopped 28 shots and recorded his third career shutout as visiting Ohio State blanked RPI.
