BOSTON—Things only got worse for the Harvard men’s hockey team last night, as the Crimson lost its third consecutive game, this a 2-1 decision to out-of-conference foe Boston University at Agganis Arena. The defeat dropped Harvard to 2-7-0, though it did not affect the team’s 1-6-0 record in the ECAC.

To put things in perspective, it is worth considering that before tonight, no current Crimson skater had ever been on a Harvard team that was five games below .500. And only the seniors had ever been four games under: midway through the 2003-2004 season, the Crimson was 9-13-2.

“Every night, we say to ourselves, ‘This is the night,’” said captain Dylan Reese, scratching his head after the postgame press conference. “But bounces just aren’t going our way.”

Coach Ted Donato ’91 admitted his frustration with last night’s defeat, “but when you play good teams like [B.U.],” he added, “the smallest of details needs to be watched.”

FIRING SQUAD

Senior goaltender Justin Tobe turned away all but two of the 29 shots he faced, but the loss pushed his record to 1-4 on the season. Meanwhile, Harvard was outshot 14-5 through the first period and 23-12 through the second—“mostly because we were in the [penalty] box,” Donato explained.

The Terriers launched 11 power-play shots on four opportunities in the first two frames, including a five-minute major assessed to sophomore defenseman Jack Christian for hitting from behind.

The Crimson managed 11 shots on goal in the third period—as Reese explained, “desperate teams play well in the third period”—but with no results.

ALONG THE BOARDS

Kenny Roche, the Terriers’ leading goal-scorer entering last night’s game (5-5-10), did not play…The loss was Donato’s first to either of Harvard’s cross-town rivals, B.U. or B.C., in non-Beanpot play. The Crimson downed both squads when Donato was a rookie skipper in 2004-2005, and Harvard beat the Eagles and tied the Terriers last season…Freshman Alex Biega scored his second collegiate goal and is now fifth on the team with 5 points… Both teams’ power plays were scoreless on the night: B.U. was 0-5 on 12 shots, and the Crimson was 0-4 with six shots.

—Staff writer Rebecca A. Seesel can be reached at seesel@fas.harvard.edu.