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2009 was a year the Harvard men’s hockey team wanted to forget. But in its last chance for redemption before the calendar turned, the Crimson ended the year on a good note.

Harvard (2-8-2, 2-5-2 ECAC) snapped a 10-game winless streak with a 3-1 victory over No. 8 Quinnipiac (13-4-1, 7-3-0) last night at Bright Hockey Center.

“I think we’re excited—relieved—to get the victory,” said Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91. “We needed to win to get some of our confidence back, and hopefully we can build off of this.”

Harvard was powered by the scoring efforts of three rookies and the fresh perspective gained from a three-week break from action.

“It was important, invaluable, [considering] the fact that we were beat up a little bit mentally with the losing streak,” Donato said. “It’s tough to really refresh, rejuvenate yourself without stepping away from it.”

Undeterred by the track record of its league-leading opponent, the Crimson got on the board midway through the opening period. Sophomore center Colin Moore took a pass in transition from classmate Ryan Grimshaw and found open ice in a sea of Bobcat jerseys.

Grimshaw’s long shot bounced off Quinnipiac goalie Dan Clarke’s pad, but rookie Luke Greiner picked the puck up in the left circle and found nothing but net for his first career tally.

“I think that whole line—[Moore], Luke Greiner, David Valek—did a great job not only defensively, but offensively [they] were able to create some chances and really outworked whoever they were playing against,” Donato said.

The Crimson carried its momentum into the second period, wasting no time on its first powerplay opportunity. Bobcat defender Brett Dickinson was whistled for interference, and it took just 14 seconds with the extra man for Harvard to find the back of the net.

Freshman Louis Leblanc buried a pass from junior Chris Huxley at 6:50, getting a secondary assist from rookie Alex Fallstrom.

But after Leblanc’s goal, the game took a turn for the more physical. With seven minutes to play in the second, five penalties were called in a span of 30 seconds—the most significant to Quinnipiac senior Eric Lampe, who got a 10-minute major after he threw a punch at a referee.

And after the second intermission, the Bobcats came out playing like the team that was expected to dominate.

With less than three minutes gone in the final period, Quinnipiac sophomore Yuri Bouharevich poked a Greg Holt rebound past Harvard junior netminder Kyle Richter to bring the Bobcats within one, 2-1.

Spencer Heichman nearly evened the score on a breakaway five minutes later, but his shot was stuffed by Richter, who made 36 saves on the evening.

“He was very good on stuff around his crease,” Donato said of his goalie. “He’s a guy that’s got a lot of talent and I think, like everybody else on our team, [he] feels that he can play better than he did the first half. I think he was certainly a difference-maker for us tonight.”