Vesey’s second goal was a strong put back in a tough area down low in front of net midway through the third period. After the puck was sent in front of net by Biega and sophomore Colin Blackwell, Vesey beat the Bentley defender to it and knocked it into the net.

“I was in his blind-spot behind him,” Vesey said. “He didn’t really see me… I kind of just swatted at the rebound and got it through.”

Marshall Everson rounded up the scoring for the Crimson with a goal assisted by Fallstrom with just 35 seconds remaining in the contest.

In a season with high expectations for Harvard, the Crimson believed that this first game in front of a sizeable and enthusiastic crowd was a strong statement moving forward.

Overall, Harvard outshot the Falcons, 44-31, despite giving away six penalties in the third period alone in what turned out to be a chippy game towards the end. The victory marks the first season-opening win since 2009 and first season-opening shutout since 2000.

“We have to be hard to play at home, and we showed that tonight with a big 5-0 win,” Girard said. “We just shut them down….so [teams] know when they are going to come to Harvard, it’s not going to be real offensive, but if it’s going to be offensive, it’s going to offensive for us.”

—Staff writer David Mazza can be reached at damazza@college.harvard.edu.