Harvard Men’s Hockey scores twice in a 4-on-4 situation to win 5-1 over Union

SCHENECTADY – It’s hard enough to face a talented team like Harvard 5-5.

But if you give the Crimson a chance to play 4v4, it can be hard to stop him. Union found out Saturday night.

Sean Farrell and Matthew Coronato each scored a goal as they went 4-for-4 late in the second period to help the Crimsons to a 5-1 ECAC Hockey win over the Dutch at Messa Rink .

A bigger concern for the Dutch (3-3-0 ECACH, 9 points; 5-8-1 overall) is the status of senior goaltender Connor Murphy. For the second time this season, the Hudson Falls native has left a game due to cramp. It happened in an Oct. 7 game at UConn, which caused him to miss the next day’s game against the Huskies.

“That was another problem with that,” said Union head coach Josh Hauge. “A little frustrating, but I just want to make sure he’s healthy and okay.”

Freshman Kyle Chauvette replaced Murphy, just like he did against UConn. It was Chauvette’s debut at Messa Rink. Murphy will have plenty of time to recover. The Dutch won’t play again until December 3 when they host Murphy’s former side Northeastern.

The 4-on-4 was set up through major penalties against each team with 3:52 left in the second. Union forward Josh Nixon hit a Harvard player from behind into the boards behind the Harvard net. Crimson defender Jack Bar, who had been agitating the Dutch throughout the match, beat Nixon and knocked his helmet off.

Each player received a major misconduct and a five-minute game. The five-minute majors were put on the board, which Hauge questioned. He believed that if every player was given a five-minute major, those penalties didn’t go on the board.

“I asked the official that,” Hauge said. “He seemed extremely adamant that [putting the penalties on the board] was the case because I’m used to the NHL rule. It is certainly something that I will study tonight. But overall, we both have the same hand and we need to play 4v4 better.”

The Crimson (6-0-0, 17 points; 6-0-0 overall), ranked 12th in the USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today poll and 13th in the USCHO.com poll, extended their lead to 2-1 in 4-on-4 course.

First, Sean Farrell, who scored a shorthanded goal in the first period, beat Murphy with a glove on his wrist with 3:23 left for his second of the game. Then Matt Coronato nabbed a pass from Henry Thrun into the net with 43.5 seconds left in the period.

“It’s big,” Coronato said. “I think we did a good job keeping our composure. There’s a lot of commotion, so I think our group did a good job of staying together and we found a way to win.

“I think there was a moment earlier in the game where we felt like we got a lot of zone time and a few chances but we didn’t get any separation in the game,” said Harvard head coach Ted Donato. “To score the two goals, the 4 against 4 was useful for us. Some great games by great players and [that] allowed us to separate ourselves a little.

Union defender Nic Petruolo was on the ice for both of those goals.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it was harder than playing against other teams,” Petruolo said. “I think it was just a few minor breakdowns, and this is a team where you have a minor breakdown in a 4v4 where you have a ton of ice to make plays on, they’re going to make you pay.”

The only good thing for Union was that he was 5-5 shorthanded. However, going 0-for-2 on his power play, combined with a shorthanded goal and two counts during the 4-on-4 doomed Union.

“I think we played a good 5v5 game,” said senior Union striker Owen Farris. “To be honest, special teams have killed us, so that’s something we’ll be looking at here in the next two weeks. Obviously back-to-back ill-goals in the five-minute major 4v4. That’s a competent team. This is the type of game they want to play, and they play chippy between whistles, hoping for compensation [penalties] so they can get into that style of play. We have to keep a bit of a cool head and stay out of those [situations].

Harvard 1 3 1 — 5

Union 0 1 0 — 1

First period – 1, Harvard, Farrell 2, 10:26 (sh). Penalties – Young, Uni (boarding), 6:42; Langenbrunner, Har (holding), 10:06; Farrell, Har (cut), 19:16; Snell, Uni (draft), 19:16.

Second period – 2, Harvard, Miller 2 (Coronato), 6:40. 3, Union, Hanley 3 (Nixon), 7:47. 4, Harvard, Farrell 3 (Coronato), 16:37. 5, Harvard, Coronato 4 (Thrun, Healey), 7:17 p.m. Penalties – Theodore, Uni (cross check), 10:44; Snell, Uni (draft), 12:56; Bar, Har, major game misconduct (head contact), 4:08; Nixon, United, major game misconduct (hit from behind), 16:08.

Third period – 6, Harvard, Shore 1 (Farrell, Miller), 1:56. Penalties – Japchen, Uni (cross-check), 7:00; Langenbrunner, Har (holding), 9:54; Ferguson, Uni (hang), 3:20 p.m.

Shots on goal — Harvard 14-11-11 — 36. Union 6-5-10 — 21.

Power Play Opportunities – Harvard 0 out of 5; Syndicate 0 out of 1.

Goalies – Harvard, Mullahy 2-0-0 (21 shots – 20 saves). Union, Murphy 5-6-1 (26-22), Chauvette (5:42 third, 10-9).

A-1793. T-2:29.

Referees — Anthony Dapuzzo, Kevin Graber. Linesmen — Adam Wood, Dan Taggart.

RPI 2, DARTMOUTH 1

Jack Beaton scored with 28 seconds left in the third period to snap a 1-1 draw and give the Engineers a win over the Big Green at Houston Field House to break a four-game losing streak.

Luke Haymes gave Dartmouth a 1-0 lead midway through the second period. Ryan Mahshie tied the game for RPI late in the second.

Dartmouth 0 1 0 — 1

RPI 0 1 1 — 2

First period — None. Penalties – None.

Second period – 1, Dartmouth, Haymes (McRae, Campbell), 9:24. 2, RPI, Mahshie (Hallbauer, Smolinski), 16:29. Penalties – Musa, Dar (hook), 1:50; Musa, Dar (boarding), 5:52 a.m.; Lee, RPI (tripping), 12:12; MacDonald, Dart (tripping), 12:47.

Third period – 3, RPI, Beaton (Hallbauer, Heidemann), 19:32. Penalties – Lee, RPI (holding), 12:58; Ciccarello, RPI (cut), 1:26 p.m.

Penalties – Dartmouth 5-5-6 – 16. RPI 6-11-10 – 27.

Power play opportunities – Dartmouth 0 out of 3; RPI 0 out of 3.

Goalies – Dartmouth, Black (27 shots – 25 saves). RPI, Watson (16-15).

A-1 810.

Referees — CJ Hanafin, Tyler Loftus. Line Judges — Mike Montagna Patrick Philbin.

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Categories: College Sports, Sports, Sports, Union College

Catherine J. Martinez