Harvard defeated Quinnipiac, 5-2, on the strength of 43 saves by Steve Michalek at High Point Solutions Arena on Saturday night.
“I thought Michalek was solid,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato. “Early on they had him on the ropes a little bit and things weren’t bouncing his way. It seemed like he was fighting some bounces and some tips. But I think he held the fort and made some huge saves. Once we got through the first 10 minutes, I thought he settled right in.”
Harvard’s top line of Kyle Criscuolo, Jimmy Vesey, and Tyler Moy carried the offense as the three combined for two goals and three assists. Phil Zielonka, Sean Malone, and Brian Hart each also added goals. Michalek improved to 9-1-2 with the victory.
“Quinnipiac is a very dangerous team,” said Donato. “But our guys were hungry and we rolled with the punches early on and after that we were able to get the game going the way we wanted it too.”
Travis St. Denis and Tommy Schutt scored for Quinnipiac. Michael Garteig made 31 saves in defeat as he fell to 9-5-0 with the loss.
“I thought five-on-five we were really good and then we weren’t very good on special teams,” said Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold. “I thought our penalty kill was an issue and we took some unnecessary penalties and our power play was not very good.”
The Crimson jumped out to a 1-0 lead 16 seconds into the game. After winning the opening faceoff, Harvard stormed into the offensive zone. With Quinnipiac out of position defensively, Tyler Moy put a shot on net from the low slot area. Garteig made the initial save before Criscuolo picked up the rebound and backhanded it into the goal.
St. Denis answered for Quinnipiac less than two minutes later to tie the game 1-1. St. Denis backhanded the rebound of Devon Toews’ shot under Michalek for the goal.
“The first wasn’t our best, including myself,” said Steve Michalek. “I was scrambling and I had to get myself settled down and get myself into the game. I think the whole team did a really good job of that going into the second and third and really got back to our game.”
Zielonka put Harvard ahead 2-1 just over 12 minutes into the second period. Luke Esposito forced a turnover behind the Quinnipiac net and centered the puck to an open Zielonka at the left side of the crease, who one-timed the shot into the open goal.
Harvard extended its lead to 3-1 on a power play with under a second to play in the period. After the Crimson moved the puck around the offensive zone, Patrick McNally took a wrist shot from the point. With Garteig out of position after making the save, Malone picked up the loose puck and backhanded it into the net.
“It definitely hurt,” said Pecknold on the goal. “Again, an unnecessary penalty right before that, just a lazy penalty and just not a great kill. And over and over again we just kept losing draws and failed clears. It was a combination of things.”
Four and a half minutes into the final period, Vesey extended the Crimson lead to 4-1 with his ninth goal of the season. Criscuolo forced a turnover near the Quinnipiac net and found Vesey at the top of the crease. Vesey then chipped the puck over Garteig’s blocker and into the top corner of the goal.
Brian Hart scored an empty-netter to put Harvard ahead 5-1 before Tommy Schutt capped the scoring with six seconds to play.
“Both nights I think that some of our best scoring chances, we missed the net,” said Pecknold. “We need to do a better job of screening the goaltender. I didn’t think we did a good job of that at all tonight. We need to get bodies to the front of the net, and we need to finish our chances.”
