LAST MINUTE LAPSES

The 142nd matchup between the Crimson and Cornell featured hard-fought hockey throughout, but it was two late period lulls - one in the first and one in the second - that ended up costing Harvard in the end.

“We are frustrated. We beat ourselves,” Crimson coach Ted Donato '91 said. “We gave up two goals in the last 20 seconds, one at the end of the first, one at the end of the second. Both times we had full possession of the puck and basically turned it over… we left the door open with the two goals at the end of the periods.”

In the closing seconds of the initial period, Christian Hilbrich was able to take a pass from Joakim Ryan, deke the Harvard defender, and then beat Michalek with a backhanded shot with just four seconds remaining to make it 2-0.

The Crimson was able to tie it up in the second period, gaining momentum with two straight goals in response. But with just under 20 seconds remaining in the second period, after Cornell won the battle behind the net, Mowrey finished off two consecutive passes from Brian Ferlin and Hilbrich to put the Big Red up for good.

SHORTHANDED, NO PROBLEM

Coming into Friday night’s contest, it was expected that special teams would be a factor, with Cornell having the second best power-play unit in the nation and the Crimson possessing the 11th best penalty kill.

But it was the Big Red’s penalty kill that struck first, with Dias scoring the first shorthanded goal for the team all season. The junior forward found himself all alone in front of Michalek after a long pass up ice from defenseman Joakim Ryan, who is now tied with Brian Ferlin for team lead in points with 18.