Kyle Richter kept bending and bending, until he finally broke.

The senior goalie did all he could to keep his team in the game, but in the end, the Harvard men’s hockey team was unable to keep up with a high-powered Union attack for most of Friday evening, falling, 2-1, in the team’s season opener at the Bright Hockey Center.

Richter was outstanding for much of the night, making 33 saves in the defeat. He faced a consistently heavy Union attack that featured 11 shots on net in every period.

The senior was under pressure the entire contest, starting from the first four minutes, in which he had to make a string of enormous kick saves. The Dutchmen dominated the first period, outshooting the Crimson, 11-3, but Richter kept his team in the game, sliding all over the ice to deflect shot after shot.

“It was definitely a busier night than I [usually] like,” Richter said.

In the second period, after an extended offensive barrage, Union finally got to Richter when forward Kelly Zajac fired a shot off a rebound over the goalie’s right shoulder for his ECAC-leading sixth goal of the season.

In the third, at 11:43, Richter made a huge save diving across the goal to his right, drawing a big ovation from the crowd and denying Dutchman forward Josh Joorish to keep his team within one.

“I knew it was [something] they liked to do on that particular play,” he said. “I was aware that the guy was sitting back-door in the slot area...the linemen allowed me to see the pass and get an opportunity to make the save.”

Though Richter later allowed the winning goal—a power-play one-timer blasted through the zone by Union defenseman Greg Coburn—the goalie made a statement that after an up-and-down 2009-10, his strong play was here to stay.

“Richter was outstanding for us,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “[He] kept us within one shot...[he] gave us a chance to be in the game.”

FRESH BLOOD

After losing defensemen Alex Biega ’10, Jack Christian ’10, and Chad Morin ’10 to graduation, Harvard was left with a lot of youth defensively behind senior co-captain Chris Huxley and junior Ryan Grimshaw. Two freshmen, Dan Ford and Danny Fick, join sophomores Danny Biega and Brendan Rempel to form a very young back line.

On the whole, despite some struggles—like allowing Coburn to get open off a faceoff before his goal—and despite giving up a large number of shots, the defense held its own in its first regular-season game playing together. There were clear signs of rustiness, and Ford and Fick each committed penalties during the game, but the defense seemed to gel as the contest went along.

“I thought the defense was pretty good at isolating shots, helping me control rebounds, and giving me chances to see as many pucks as I could,” Richter said.

Nonetheless, Donato said there were certainly things to tidy up on the defensive end.

“So far, I think our two freshman defensemen have played well,” Donato said. “[But] we’re in a position where not only our freshmen but our entire team needs to continue to improve.”

Richter commented that playing behind such a young defense has allowed him to take on more of a leadership role.

“It definitely comes with the territory, being a senior,” he said. “We all try to help each other out as much as we can, especially with a couple new guys in the lineup...they did a great job in September and October preparing themselves, so if they have questions, I’m happy to answer them and help them along, but I think they’ve done very well in the preseason and did a good job tonight.”

AN OFFENSIVE DEFENSE

It was Biega, a defenseman, who had the team’s only goal Friday. The sophomore took a pass from junior forward Daniel Moriarty in the top of the right circle, and after initially being denied, grabbed his own rebound and pushed the puck past Union goalie Keith Kinkaid for the tying score.

It was the second consecutive game in which a defenseman had Harvard’s lone goal after Grimshaw scored in an exhibition last week against Sweden. After the game, Biega said creating more chances for defensemen to score was something the team had worked on coming into the contest.

“Whenever we get chances, it’s definitely encouraged,” he said. “It’s just picking the right spots to hit...that’s something we’re going to look forward to and do more this year.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.