PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Despite leaving the Dunkin’ Donuts Center with a DVD player for each player, not to mention all coaches and staff, the Harvard men’s hockey team had a disappointing post-holiday weekend in the first ever Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Pot Tournament.

The Crimson left Providence last night with one point in two games after a close 6-4 loss to No. 10 St. Cloud State and a 3-3 tie against familiar foe Clarkson, despite being ideally positioned for the win in both.

“We had a pretty good showing in terms of effort, we just had a lot of breakdowns mentally,” senior forward Tim Pettit said. “And every time that happened they seemed to capitalize on it.”

The ‘they’ in this case stands for both the Huskies and the Golden Knights; St. Cloud rallied from three separate one-goal deficits before pulling away from Harvard in the third period, and Clarkson rebounded from two gaps before forcing the tie late in regulation. The Crimson’s third period struggles dropped it to 1-4-1 in its last six games, and sends the team into the New Year and Friday and Saturday’s games against Union and RPI on a down note.

St. Cloud went on to win the tournament, beating Providence 6-1 in the championship game on Sunday night.

“Ultimately, [the weekend] didn’t end up the way we wanted it to,” assistant captain Tyler Kolarik said.

Harvard 3, Clarkson 3 (OT)

Sunday night’s consolation game against Clarkson was, at once, frustrating and encouraging for the Crimson; frustrating because the team was unable to preserve two leads, including one late in the third period, yet encouraging because Sunday’s effort—if not the result—represented a leap forward for Harvard.

"I thought our team played exceptional,” Crimson coach Mark Mazzoleni said. “I'm not happy with a tie. I thought we deserved better than that. We did everything we could. If we keep working like that, it's going to turn for us. I don't have any question on that."

Kolarik agreed, saying he thought that against Clarkson “everyone played hard.”

“A couple of bounces here or there…maybe we would’ve come out on top,” he added.

One bounce that certainly did go Harvard’s way occurred early in the third period. With senior Dennis Packard in the box for high-sticking, junior center Tom Cavanagh gave the Crimson a 3-2 lead on a beautiful short-handed goal.

Cavanagh, closely pursued, led a strong rush into the zone and fired a shot on net. Clarkson goaltender Dustin Traylen made a nice save, but became entangled with his teammate Chris Blight and Kolarik, both of whom had charged the net looking for a rebound.

The puck squirted loose as all three players became entangled at the top of the crease, and Cavanagh retrieved the rebound—his momentum following the first shot had carried him around the net—before back-handing a shot into the top of the net, giving Harvard the 3-2 lead.

That advantage held for almost 12 minutes, until 13:41 of the third, when Clarkson forward John Sullivan dropped a shot past Crimson junior goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris who—like Traylen on Cavangh’s short-handed goal—had been knocked prone by his own defenseman, junior Noah Welch.