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NEW YORK—The No. 5/4 Harvard men’s hockey team’s defensive breakdown came late in its Thursday night game against No. 11/11 Boston University, as the squad surrendered three goals in the final four minutes to see its two-goal lead slip away.

On Saturday night under the bright lights at Madison Square Garden, it came quick and it came fast.

Four goals from No. 2/1 Quinnipiac in the first 13 minutes of play provided just enough cushion for the Bobcats to withstand Harvard’s four-goal flurry over the remainder of regulation. Quinnipiac’s Derek Smith put home a game-winner with 2:05 left in overtime, as the Crimson fell, 5-4.

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“I think guys bought in and realized those first 15 minutes were the worst of our season and that there were still 40 minutes left to play,” fifth-year senior Colin Blackwell said. “So we just had to keep believing in each other and chipping away…[but] we lost the game.”

THERE ARE NO MORAL VICTORIES

Previous versions of the Harvard squad might have found comfort in the team’s four-goal comeback to force overtime against the best team in the country per the PairWise rankings in Quinnipiac (19-1-3, 10-0-2 ECAC). But for a team that took the Whitelaw Cup last March and returned most of its starters, playing a team close is no large accomplishment.

“There are certainly no moral victories,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ‘91 said. “We’re too good of a team for us to want to hear that. But I do think they showed a lot of guts in battling back.”

Harvard (8-3-3, 4-2-3) will likely fall in the national rankings with losses to BU and the Bobcats, but the Crimson is still primed to make a run for a national championship at the NCAA tournament—a single elimination tournament.

“There are no series in college hockey,” Donato said. “You have one game.”

QUESTIONS AT GOALIE

Donato decided to shake things up in net for the Rivalry on Ice, replacing sophomore Merrick Madsen with freshman Michael Lackey after the former let in six goals in the Crimson loss against BU. The change did not have the desired effect, however.

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Lackey let in four goals on the first 12 shots he faced, two of which came on 2-on-1 opportunities that the rookie was unable to squash. The first Quinnipiac tally came off the stick of Alex Miner-Barron, who beat Lackey blocker-side from the slot after deciding not to pass on the odd-man rush. K.J. Tiefenwerth followed up 23 seconds later on an easy rebound chance created by Tommy Schutt on a shot that handcuffed Lackey and sent him sprawling on his back.

“I thought about [switching goalies],” Donato said. “I didn’t want to single him out in a period where quite frankly we didn’t show up in the first 10 minutes of the game. I thought he battled back and made some excellent saves...to give us a chance to come back.”

Despite the four-goal deluge in the opening minutes of the game, Donato decided to stick with Lackey for the remainder of the game. But the question remains whether some combination of Madsen and Lackey can provide enough support beneath the pipes to help bring the conference’s leading offense back to its second straight ECAC conference final. While Madsen has the league’s second highest save percentage at .940, late game lapses like his at BU may be too much for the attack to overcome on a regular basis.

HOME ON THE ROAD

In order to keep its annual tradition of playing in New York City going, Harvard decided to concede the home game in its two-game slate with Quinnipiac in conference play. MSG felt like anything but home for the Crimson, however. The seats in the fabled New York arena were occupied predominantly with Bobcat supporters, a sea of yellow filling the navy seats of the Garden.

The Crimson’s status as home team came even though Harvard had to travel more than double the distance to come down to play, with the Bobcats being within a 100-mile radius of MSG.

Despite the disadvantages of the event, playing at Madison Square Garden provides benefits for the players that are tough to find at any other venue.

“It’s a tremendous place to play,” Donato said. “If you're a college hockey player and you get to play in this environment...as far as development and life experience, it’s a great atmosphere.”

—Staff writer Kurt T. Bullard can be reached at kurt.bullard@thecrimson.com.