Harvard takes ECAC tournament opener
It was harder than expected but No. 5 seed Harvard used multiple-point efforts from freshman forwards Nick Abruzzese and Austin Wong, each with a goal and assist to turn back stubborn No. 12 seed St. Lawrence, 5-3 before a crowd of only 438 at Bright-Landry Hockey Center Friday night.
The win, which also featured multiple assist showings from junior defenseman Reilly Walsh and freshman Henry Thrun, handed Harvard a 1-0 lead in its best-of-3 ECAC first-round series, which continues Saturday, and Sunday if necessary.
“Happy we got the win. I thought we created enough scoring opportunities and shots (42) and we hounded the puck. We also created our own problems,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato. “This time of year, you win, anyway you get it done, it’s good.”
The Saints (4-26-5) played the game without the services of 6-foot-8 center and top goal-scorer Keenan Suthers. A St. Lawrence official said the skater, who is tied with Maine backup goaltender Stephen Mundinger as college hockey’s tallest player, did not make the trip and was reportedly dealing with “off-ice stuff.” No further details were forthcoming.
The Saints took the initial lead thanks to a Harvard turnover in the neutral zone at 11:33. Fourth-line left wing Callum Cusinato picked off an errant Crimson pass and broke in alone. Cusinato fired the puck to the stick side of Harvard freshman Mitchell Gibson (15 saves) for his second goal.
Harvard (14-10-6) scored twice in just over two minute to go ahead, 2-1. The first goal began with a faceoff in the Saints end. Thrun worked the puck to blue line partner Walsh and the junior’s blast was stopped by Saints goalie Francois Boisvert (37 saves). Harvard freshman forward John Farinacci was camped on the doorstep and banged away until the rebound slid home at 12:04. It was the ninth goal for Farinacci, the nephew of head coach Ted Donato and cousin to teammate Jack Donato of Scituate.
Harvard received an unexpected goal later at 14:15 when junior left wing Henry Bowlby connected off a spin-o-rama. Bowlby had the puck in the left circle, jammed on the brakes, wheeled and sent the puck toward the net front. The puck caught the far corner for his seventh goal.
The Saints, who were outshot, 17-8, in the first period, pulled even in the second on the power play with Harvard’s Bowlby serving a minor penalty.
Harvard was allowing St. Lawrence to dictate play and needed a spark. It got it at 18:40 of the middle period when sophomore right wing Casey Dornbach brought the puck deep into the right circle and passed to Abruzzese, who finished with a low shot glove side to beat Boisvert. It gave Abruzzese. 14 goals and 40 points on the season, the first rookie to hit the 40-point plateau for the Crimson since Adam Fox in 2015-2016.
Harvard doldrums continued and the Crimson was caught flat-footed at 2:48 of the third when freshman right wing Aleksi Peltonen blocked a clearing pass, swung to his backhand and beat Harvard’s Gibson with a low shot. Peltonen’s fourth tally deadlocked matters at 3-all.
Wong put the Crimson back in front once again on a quality shift when he bumped a Saints defender off the puck behind the net and moved to the front, in time to convert a feed from sophomore Jack Drury. Wong’s fourth goal of the season came at 7:05 and gave the Crimson a 4-3 lead. Harvard could breathe easier when stellar All-ECAC defenseman Jack Rathbone scored on the rush with a 25foot shot into the far corner at 15:44 to stake the Crimson to a 5-3 advantage.