Joe Sullivan and Mike Marnell both had a goal and an assist and both tallied their team-leading eighth goals of the season, but the No. 19 St. Lawrence men’s hockey team fell 4-2 to No. 8 Harvard on Friday night in Appleton Arena.
The loss is the first for St. Lawrence in conference play and snapped a nine-game unbeaten streak dating back to Oct. 29. The Saints are now 8-5-4 overall and 5-1-2 in ECAC Hockey, while the Crimson improved to 7-2-1 and 3-1-1 in conference games.
Alexander Kerfoot led the Crimson with two goals and two assists, while Adam Fox – who entered Friday’s game leading the nation in points per game by defensemen – added three assists. Harvard’s second-ranked power play found the back of the net twice against the Saints, needing just 10 seconds each time to do so.
The Saints got on the board first, as Sullivan deposited the rebound from his own shot behind Harvard goaltender Merrick Madsen at the 8:24 mark of the first period.
After a faceoff win in the defensive zone, Michael Ederer broke out for the Saints and dumped the puck into the left corner of Harvard territory. Marnell beat the Crimson defense to the puck in the corner and kicked it out to Sullivan at the bottom of the left circle for a quick shot that was initially saved. But he collected the rebound and deked around Madsen for an easy finish inside the near post.
But the next four goals would go to the Crimson, as they mounted a lead the Saints current overcome. Kerfoot notched his first on the power play at 15:37 of the first period to tie the game at 1-1 and then gave the visitors a lead they wouldn’t relinquish with a bar-down shot from the slot at 5:42 of the middle frame.
Early in the third, Tyler Moy tallied the second man-advantage goal for Harvard with a knuckle puck that bested the Saints’ Kyle Hayton to extend the lead to 3-1. Luke Esposito rounded out the scoring for Harvard with his fourth of the year at 15:06 for a 4-1 Crimson lead.
With just under a minute and a half to play, Marnell redirected the rebound from a shot from the circle by senior defenseman Gavin Bayreuther behind Madsen to cut the deficit to 4-2. After a faceoff win by Sullivan, Bayreuther worked around two defenders to get a shot off from the right circle. Madsen saved it with the blocker, but the puck kicked directly to Marnell on the edge of the crease for the finish.
Sullivan and Marnell had other prime opportunities against Harvard, as a goal for Marnell was waved off on account of it being hit in with a high stick and Sullivan was robbed by Madsen on a breakaway. The Crimson netminder snagged a quick wrist shot from the Las Vegas, Nevada native with the glove to keep the score at 3-1 in favor of the visitors.
Madsen finished with 22 stops in the win for Harvard, while Hayton made 28 saves in the loss.
The Saints will look to rebound on Saturday night against Dartmouth with puck drop slated for 7 p.m. in Appleton Arena.
