Junior forward Alex Killorn, shown here in earlier action, scored two goals in Harvard’s 5-4 victory over No. 14 Boston University in the consolation game of the 59th annual Beanpot at TD Banknorth Garden. The Terriers finished in last place for just the fourth time in tournament history. Killorn leads the Crimson with 21 points and 10 goals in the 2010-11 campaign.

Last night, the Harvard men’s hockey team shocked No. 14 Boston University in the 59th annual Beanpot.

The Crimson (5-18-1, 3-13-1 ECAC) upset the Terriers (14-9-7, 11-5-5 HEA) in the tournament’s consolation game, 5-4. What BU Coach Jack Parker said was an “embarrassing display” makes history as his team finished last for only the fourth time in the history of the tournament and the first time since 1980.

Harvard, the clear underdog in the match, battled back from being down twice in the game. The matchup was full of ups and downs for both teams, but the Crimson came out on top.

“It was a strange game, back and forth, a lot of goals against,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91, “Our guys battled hard, and I was happy with the way they stayed with it.”

The first period started off slowly, with the teams nearly even in shots on goal and time spent in each other’s zones. Both teams were skating well, but a penalty on Harvard was costly.  BU’s top scorer, sophomore Alex Chiasson, netted his own rebound, putting the Terriers up 1-0 just five minutes into the game.

The period ended with a hard hit from behind by Harvard junior Daniel Moriarty, resulting in his ejection from the game and a five minute power play for BU going into the second period.

At the start of the next frame, the Crimson’s leading scorer, junior Alex Killorn, capitalized on a short-handed opportunity, scoring on a feed from sophomore Alex Fallstrom to put Harvard on the board.

The Crimson struck two more times before the Terriers could get their feet back under them. Defenseman Ryan Grimshaw slapped the puck under BU goaltender Kieran Millan just 54 seconds after Harvard’s first goal.

Up by one, the Crimson repeated the passing pattern from Killorn’s first goal to score again 19 seconds later. After the puck once again progressed from sophomore defenseman Danny Biega to Fallstrom, Killorn beat a BU defenseman to keep possession. From the goal line, Killorn managed to sneak another past Millan at a nearly impossible angle. The shot looked as though it would cross in front of the net, but it crossed the goal line to give Harvard the 3-1 advantage.

But even with the lead, the Crimson struggled to stop the Terriers’ strong power play offense in the second half of the period.

“When we were up 3-1, we probably played the worst five minutes of the game,” Donato said.

After Harvard was called on another hit from behind penalty, BU freshman Garrett Noonan lifted the puck over the Crimson’s senior goaltender Ryan Carroll.

Carroll had 45 saves on the night, but couldn’t stop another Terrier goal just 43 seconds later.

By the end of the second period, the game was tied, and the fans for the next game were streaming in for the Beanpot championship, but Harvard and BU were still vying for third place.

The Terrier’s Chiasson found the net again on a power play with about six minutes left to play, making his team 3-for-6 on man-up opportunities and regaining the BU lead.