MINNEAPOLIS—Just days before Christmas, the Harvard men’s hockey team traveled to Minnesota for the Dodge Holiday Classic in good shape. No. 10 in the polls, the Crimson (9-4-2, 6-3-1 ECAC) had secured nine victories in 10 contests and downed four nationally ranked teams.

But the competition on the Mariucci Arena ice was unforgiving, and Harvard, now No. 12, was sent packing for winter recess after a tie and a loss—not exactly the early Christmas gifts the team might have wanted.

MERRIMACK 6, HARVARD 4

Relegated to the consolation round of the tournament one day earlier, the Crimson was dealt a stunning upset of Merrimack, which decisively downed Harvard, 6-4. The loss, just the Crimson’s second since Nov. 12, snapped Harvard’s six-game unbeaten streak.

“We weren’t sharp mentally today,” Crimson coach Ted Donato ‘91 said of his flu-ridden squad, the day before Christmas Eve. “And that’s what cost us more. I think physically we were a little bit more there than we were [Wednesday], but mentally we just didn’t do the things we needed to do to be successful.”

While Harvard dominated even-strength play, squeezing off 21 more shots and holding the Warriors (7-11-2, 1-8-1 Hockey East) to just 12 at 5-on-5, Merrimack repeatedly struck with a man advantage, torching backup netminder Justin Tobe for four power-play goals in five chances.

Ahead 1-0 and skating 5-on-4 to open the second period, the Warriors wasted little time extending their lead. Merrimack defenseman Jeff Caron, the Warriors’ offensive catalyst on the afternoon with four assists, wristed the puck into traffic, where it nicked off teammate Scott Drewicki’s stick and past Tobe 1:30 after the intermission.

But that play—the Warriors’ first and only shot during the first 18 minutes of the second period—briefly appeared to be Merrimack’s last gasp. Galvanized by the two-goal deficit, the Crimson roared to life, peppering goaltender Jim Healey and forcing several point-blank saves.

Defenseman Dylan Reese solved Healey first 7:28 into the frame, taking a feed from assistant captain Ryan Lannon, then slipping away from a check at the blue line before waiting for congestion to obscure the goaltender’s view. His subsequent shot snuck through the pack in front and by Healey to pull Harvard within one.

But despite intense pressure inside the Warriors’ zone, the Crimson couldn’t poke home the equalizer. Captain Noah Welch’s high sticking minor at 18:31 granted the Warriors a brief respite—one they eagerly capitalized on just 10 seconds later. Perched at the right point, defenseman Bryan Schmidt feigned a one-timer, then quickly slipped the puck to the left post, where Mike Fournier greedily awaited its arrival. His tap-in broke Harvard’s momentum and, it appeared, Tobe’s confidence.

“Once we got the second [power-play goal], it was like...he just lost a little bit of confidence because of the way they were coming,” Merrimack coach Chris Serino said. “It’s almost like he knows he can’t let another one in to get a couple behind. I think he might have pressed a little bit.”

Just moments after Healey turned aside a pair of quality efforts from Crimson pivot Kevin Du to start the final period, the Warriors broke from their own zone and sent the puck careening into the left corner at Harvard’s end. There, Brendon Clark fished it out, then shoveled a pass on to Mike Alexiou, who slapped his shot past Tobe to notch a 4-1 lead.

Freshman Dave Watters’ power-play goal—the first of his collegiate career and the Crimson’s lone conversion in four man-advantage opportunities—at 6:02 kept Harvard’s hopes alive, if only for a few moments. Springing from the penalty box as his minor expired, Schmidt received a long outlet pass behind the Crimson defense and raced in on Tobe all alone, roofing his effort to reestablish the Warriors’ three-goal edge.

“I didn’t think they were getting a ton of opportunities,” Donato said. “But it did seem that, when they did, they cashed in on them.”

As the third period wore on, the sophomore transfer looked increasingly unsettled in net, on one occasion lunging wildly at a puck that cleared the crossbar by two feet. Brent Gough’s unscreened power-play tally from between the circles with 4:54 remaining capped Tobe’s forgettable evening and sealed Harvard’s shocking defeat.