Shown here in earlier action, Danny Biega, a sophomore defenseman, scored three of Harvard’s six goals in a thorough thrashing of Colgate Friday evening. The hat trick was the second of the year by a member of the Crimson; Michael Biega—Danny’s older brother—also had a three-goal performance against Brown Jan. 7. The elder Biega added two assists against the Raiders.

After falling on the wrong side of several close decisions over the past two months, the Harvard men’s hockey team left little doubt as to who had played the better game on Friday night at Bright Hockey Center.

The Crimson (4-16, 3-12 ECAC) earned its third win in conference play, beating Colgate (3-21-2, 0-12-2), 6-2, in a game that finally saw Harvard’s improved play come to fruition.

“I think we’ve worked awfully hard over the past few games and haven’t really been rewarded,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ‘91. “So it’s nice to see the puck go in the net...we’re happy to get the win.”

Both teams went into Friday’s matchup coming off of long winless streaks, and each was looking for something to fall in their favor.

“The energy was good, both teams played hard,” said Red Raiders’ coach Don Vaughan. “Both of us were looking for something to jumpstart our seasons and get us going.”

Colgate got the game going Friday night when it struck first on a goal from sophomore forward Robbie Bourdon just under eight minutes into the game.

But before the announcer had even finished the Red Raiders’ goal summary, the Crimson struck back.

Senior forward Michael Biega took possession after a battle for the puck and passed to sophomore teammate Connor Morrison, who redirected it just enough to put the puck into the slot.

Sophomore Danny Biega was there to knock in a shot that sailed past the Colgate goaltender, tying up the score within 13 seconds of the Red Raiders’ first goal.

After the quick shift in momentum, Harvard capitalized again before the end of the frame.

Freshman John Caldwell got the puck out of the Crimson’s defensive zone to sophomore teammate Marshall Everson, who skated to the other end of the ice before dropping a tricky pass back through the Colgate defense to sophomore Alex Fallstrom. Fallstrom put it in for Harvard’s first lead of the game, as he and Caldwell both registered their first points of the season.

After the break, things didn’t change, and the Crimson’s offense kept the pressure on the Red Raiders. After a Colgate forward was called for holding midway through the second period, Harvard got its first power play opportunity of the night.

The Red Raiders appeared to be controlling the play—even with a man down— but Crimson junior Alex Killorn got the puck out to Danny Biega, who exchanged a few passes with captain Chris Huxley before getting a shot off from the blue line.

“To be honest, I don’t even think the goalie saw it,” Biega said of his second goal. “The power play was moving around really well...and we had a really good screen in front of the net.”

Converting on the man-up opportunity was one thing that Harvard’s coach noted as an instrumental change in getting the victory.