Donato joked that to keep the forward off the board, he had been carrying a rosary bead in his coat pocket.

“It certainly didn’t feel like he didn’t have any points tonight because he’s dynamic,” Donato said. “[With] his skill level [and] his ability to control the tempo of the game, he’s a tough matchup.”

While trying to contain Eichel and the rest of BU’s top line, the Crimson struggled offensively in the opening period. Harvard totaled just five shots on net in the frame—the first of which did not come until almost nine minutes into the contest. 

Nonetheless, the Crimson emerged from the locker room at the start of the second period looking like a different group. Harvard recorded 11 shots on target in the stanza, earning its first score of the game at the 11:46 mark courtesy of Vesey.

Trailing 1-0 following a goal by Terrier forward Matt Lane, the Crimson lined up for a faceoff in the attacking zone. After winning the draw, Kerfoot got the puck to Vesey coming off the right wing, who made his way to the crease and poked a shot past O’Connor.

With the victory, Harvard has knocked off two top-ranked teams in the last three seasons, as the Crimson defeated No. 1 Quinnipiac in overtime in 2013. Dating back to that same season, Harvard has also now won its last five games against BU.

“For us, we were trying to make a statement to ourselves,” Donato said. “I think BU is very worthy and will be a great team throughout the rest of the year. But I think our guys are really trying to get ourselves established. And we knew that [this] was a good opportunity.”

 —Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jmeagher@college.harvard.edu.