Kyle Criscuolo had Harvard's lone tally Saturday (Gil Talbot).

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 7/8 Harvard men's hockey team (9-4-3, 5-3-3) dropped a home ECAC contest Saturday night to visiting Clarkson (10-10-2, 2-6-2), 5-1.

Clarkson netminder Greg Lewis notched his fourth victory of the year, making 21 saves. The Golden Knights also held the special teams advantage Saturday, going 2-for-4 on the power play, while Harvard was 1-for-3.

Scoring opportunities were limited in the opening frame, as Harvard outshot Clarkson, 9-5, but the Golden Knights were able to capitalize on one of its few rushes. Sophomore Ben Dalpe fired an initial shot on net from the boards to the right of Lackey, but the puck thudded off his leg pads and found the stick of A.J. Fossen for the put back on the open side of the net. Harvard had the period's lone power play, but was unable to beat Lewis with either of its shots on goal.

Clarkson took advantage of two Crimson penalties in the second period, getting goals from Sam Vigneault and Kevin Tansey to carry a 3-0 lead into the second intermission. Vigneault, Clarkson's leading scorer, notched his ninth of the year when he put home the rebound off a shot by Tansey at 5:18. On the next power play, Tansey's slap shot from the right point evaded the traffic in front and found the mesh inside the far post. Paul Geiger and Fossen assisted on the play at 9:25. Harvard had a turn at the power play late in the stanza, but recorded only three shots and just one on net.

Harvard came out in the third and looked in position to swing momentum in its favor. Clarkson Terrance Amorosa was called for roughing giving Harvard a man-advantage where Kyle Criscuolo scored his 12th of the season to cut the deficit down to two goals at 5:05. Criscuolo jammed home a rebound in front of Lewis who made a stop on Clay Anderson's initial attempt. Jimmy Vesey earned the second assist on the play.

Just as quick as it looked Harvard was back in it, Clarkson responded with goals from Nic Pierog and Pat Megannetty separated by 10 seconds at 7:08 and 7:18, respectively, to push the lead back out to 5-1.

Much of the action in the waning minutes occurred after the whistle, with three 10-minute misconducts being issued and four minor penalties, three for roughing, but the 5-1 score stood until the final horn.

Harvard heads out on the road next weekend, visiting Colgate and Cornell, Jan. 22 and 23.

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