HAMDEN, Conn. – Both Quinnipiac and Harvard had high aspirations entering this season. Neither has lived up to its billing thus far, but it was the Crimson who showed signs of reverting to form on Friday night at the Frank Perotti Jr. Arena.
Harvard scored three first-period goals en route to a 6-2 win over the Bobcats. The win broke a 0-4-1 skid for the Crimson, which got a hat trick from Ryan Donato and 41 saves from goaltedner Michael Lackey.
Lackey’s start broke a streak of 55 straight games started by senior captain Merrick Madsen. It was the junior’s first regular-season appearance since Feb. 8, 2016 in the Beanpot Consolation game. That also marked the last time Madsen didn’t get the start for Harvard.
“All three of our goalies, I think we have confidence in,” Crimson coach Ted Donato said. “They’ve all been working hard. We thought that we deserved to give somebody a chance to play. We wanted more competition. Like the rest of our hockey team, we wanted to be on merit-based playing time.”
Lackey, who missed all of last season with a hip injury, allowed a Quinnipiac goal in the opening minutes of the game, but held strong as Harvard rallied to take the lead.
“Coach told me at the beginning of the week just to keep going and then later on in the week he told me that it was an open competition going into the weekend,” Lackey said. “I was a little nervous but once I got in there, I just focused on the things I could control.”
The win came as Harvard is in the midst of a nine-game road trip, the longest in program history.
“It’s a little tough,” Ryan Donato said of being on the road for an extended period of time. ”One of the greatest things about our team last year was that we were undefeated at home and I think we play our best games at home. But at the end of the year, the tournaments are always away. So I think that’s good for us to get used to playing away.”
Lackey got stronger as the game went on, denying Kevin McKernan on a partial shorthanded breakaway early in the third and then making a quick glove save on a Chase Priskie in the closing minutes of the game.
“He made some saves in traffic, especially in the third, that gave the bench some confidence,” Ted Donato said of Lackey.
Tanner MacMaster’s goal brought the Bobcats to within 3-2 midway through the third, but Donato scored less than two minutes later to restore Harvard’s two-goal lead. The junior added an empty-netter to complete the hat trick 18:18 into the third, while Seb Lloyd scored his first goal of the year in the closing seconds.
Quinnipiac (6-8-1) took a 1-0 lead 3:51 into the game when Nick Jermain redirected an odd-angle shot from Nick Forchuck into the net. But Harvard roared backed with three unanswered goals, starting with Wiley Sherman’s blast from just inside the blueline at 6:52.
“You’ve got to give the shooter credit, that was a tip in the top corner,” Lackey said of Jermain’s goal. “I didn’t really fret that much about it.”
Donato gave the Crimson (3-5-1) the lead for good less than three minutes later, taking the puck from the right end boards and skating towards the net before snapping a shot past Andrew Shortridge (24 saves) at 9:05.
Lewis Zerter-Gossage capped the first-period scoring, taking a pass from John Marino and skating in untouched from the blueline to the top of the right circle before snapping a shot into the net.
That concluded a nightmarish first period for the Bobcats, who nearly gave up another goal following a turnover in front of Shortridge.
“It was a disappointing effort on our part tonight,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “It was just a struggle for us. I think they key was our puck management in the first period; we had 24 turnovers. That’s just bad hockey.”
Quinnipiac hosts Dartmouth Saturday, while Harvard travels to Princeton. Both games are at 7 p.m.
Around the ECAC
Princeton 9, Dartmouth 2
Princeton scored five first-period goals, including two by Max Veronneau, to cruise to a 9-2 win over Dartmouth. Vernneau finished with a hat trick, while David Hallisey had two goals and an assist for the Tigers and Josh Teves added three assists. Princeton goalie Ryan Ferland made 31 saves for the win while Matt Baker and Will Graber scored for the Big Green.
Rensselaer 2, Yale 1
The Bulldogs broke an eight-period scoring drought when Ted Hart scored in the opening minute of the third, but Jared Wilson and Viktor Liljegren each scored on the power play later in the third period to lead RPI to 2-1 win. Linden Marshall had x=32 saves for the Engineers, while Yale sophomore Corbin Kaczperski stopped 34 shots in his collegiate debut. The win ended a five-game losing streak for RPI.
No. 19 Union 3, Brown 1
Union scored a goal in each period to push its unbeaten streak to five games. Jake Kupsky continued his strong play of late for the Dutchmen, finishing with 31 saves. Ryan Scarfo, Anthony Rinaldi, and Vas Kolias scored for Union, while Tommy Marchin had the lone goal for the Bears.
Miami 2, No. 5 Cornell 1
Miami scored two power-play goals, including Gordie Green’s game winner at 19:06 in the second period, to beat the Big Red 2-1. Alex Rauter scored for Cornell.
