The Harvard men's hockey team looked to build on its momentum after an upset of No. 8 Quinnipiac, but the squad found itself outmatched in two contests against Minnesota, dropping both games after third-period letdowns.

Home-ice advantage seems to be a theme of the Minnesota-Harvard hockey rivalry. In December, the Crimson women twice shut out the then No. 2 Golden Gophers at Bright Hockey Center, but on Friday and Saturday nights the Harvard men’s hockey team (2-10-2, 2-5-2 ECAC) found itself on the other side of the coin as it dropped both contests in Mariucci Arena, 5-2 and 3-1.

In many sports, home advantage comes from outside factors—weather, fans, travel complications. But according to the Crimson players, Mariucci, the home rink of the Golden Gophers (11-10-2), was daunting because of the ice itself.

“I don’t know if we were prepared to play on the Olympic sheet,” freshman Conor Morrison said.

The larger rink size lends itself to faster, more fluid hockey, whereas Bright’s smaller rink is geared toward tougher, more physical play.

“Minnesota’s one of the most physically gifted teams in the country,” captain Alex Biega said.

Harvard was able to adapt to the rink over the course of the weekend, playing a tighter game on Saturday than it had on Friday. But the trip to the Twin Cities proved disappointing to a team that had just ended a 10-game winless streak with an upset of No. 8 Quinnipiac.

MINNESOTA 3, HARVARD 1

Hockey is not a game for slow learners, and the Crimson’s improved play in the second game of the double-header was not enough against the Golden Gophers Saturday.

“I think we were better with the puck,” Alex Biega said. “There were a lot of good signs.”

Minnesota put the puck on the net early, though, outshooting Harvard in the opening minutes—a trend that would continue for the rest of the game. But junior goaltender Kyle Richter stood tall, and when the Crimson found a window, it was able to notch the first goal as sophomore Colin Moore scored at 7:57 in the first.

But Harvard continued to be outshot and the Crimson lost its early lead before the period expired when Minnesota’s Cade Fairchild took advantage of a Golden Gopher power-play with less than a minute left in the period.

Harvard was never able to rebuild momentum as Minnesota would outshoot it by increasing margins—14-7 in the second period and 16-6 in the third.

Golden Gopher sophomore Nick Larson put Minnesota ahead midway through the second period. A holding penalty on Mike Carmen gave Harvard a chance to retaliate, but shots by senior Doug Rogers and Alex Biega didn’t make it to the goal, where goaltender Kent Patterson was starting for the first time since December 4.

Larson would seal the deal for Minnesota just eleven seconds into the third period. “We’ve learned some valuable lessons,” Biega said. “It’s a matter of really sticking together as a team.”

MINNESOTA 5, HARVARD 2