CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Sophomore forward Alex Laferriere scored four goals to lead No. 9/13 Harvard men's ice hockey (4-0-0, 3-0-0 ECAC Hockey) to a 5-1 win over Colgate (5-6-0, 0-2-0 ECAC Hockey) at Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
 
First-year forward Alex Gaffney recorded his first collegiate goal, and sophomore goalkeeper Derek Mullahy (23 saves) earned the win in net in his first career start.
 
Senior defenseman Marshall Rifai also had a career night, recording four assists.
 
Gaffney got things going for the Crimson early in the game, as he crashed the net for a rebound to put Harvard in front 1-0 at 3:13.
 
Cornell's Brandon Pierson evened the score on a well-placed wrist shot from the circle at 3:41.
 
But Harvard would have the lead for good on Laferriere's first of the game on a deflection of a Ryan Siedem shot at 11:58.
 
Laferriere then added three more goals in the second period to record Harvard's first four-goal game since 2017.
 
Senior captain Casey Dornbach (two assists) created a turnover then fed to junior captain Nick Abruzzese (two assists) in front of the net. Abruzzese's drop pass found Laferriere in the slot for a tap in goal at 5:46.
 
Three minutes later, Laferriere had a natural hat trick, on another series of tic-tac toe passes, with Rifai making the last pass into the slot for another goal at 8:46.
 
The fourth goal for the sophomore came on another beautiful passing play, as Dornbach fired a pass across the slot for a waiting Laferriere on the right side at 17:32 to make it 5-1.
 
The two teams played a scoreless third period, as Harvard earned its second straight Friday-Saturday sweep, and moved to 4-0 on the year.

Harvard Highlights

• Sophomore Alex Laferriere recorded Harvard's first four-goal game since Ryan Donato '19 scored four on Feb. 10, 2017 against Union. Laferriere had Harvard's first natural hat trick since Donato's on Dec. 30, 2017 vs. Vermont.
• Both Nick Abruzzese (two assists, 1-7-8) and Casey Dornbach (two assists, 1-5-6) have points in Harvard's first four games this season.
• Senior defenseman Marshall Rifai recorded a career high four points (four assists) in the game.

Game Notes

• Harvard improved to 4-0 to start the year for the second straight season (2019-20 and 2021-22)
• Harvard has outscored its first four opponents by a combined score of 24-9, averaging six goals per game.
• Harvard swept Cornell and Colgate at home for the first time since the 2008-09 season.

Up Next
Harvard returns to action on Monday night (Nov. 8, 7 p.m.) at Northeastern. The game will air on NESN.