BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore forward
Matthew Coronato scored twice, and senior goaltender
Mitchell Gibson made 27 saves in a dramatic 70
th Beanpot final against No. 16/16 Northeastern (14-10-5) which saw the Huskies prevail over No. 9/10 Harvard men's ice hockey (17-6-2) in a shootout after a 2-2 tie.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Harvard opened the game with the early shot edge and had several good scoring chances.
Sean Farrell's backhander trickled just wide of the net, and Devon Levi (32 saves) turned away a good chance in the slot for
John Farinacci midway through the frame.
Gibson made a good stop on Sam Colangelo's wrist shot from the right circle at 11:44.
Harvard held a 12-7 advantage in shots on goal after the opening 20 minutes of play.
Northeastern struck first at 1:25 of the second period on a loose puck that Gunnarwolfe Fontaine found first.
But Harvard responded minutes later on a beautiful power play goal. Sophomore defenseman
Ian Moore found junior forward
Sean Farrell down low, who fed cross-ice to Coronato for a one-timer into the back of the net at 2:58.
Coronato added his second of the game at 8:55 of the frame, jamming in a rebound off a point shot from senior defenseman
Ryan Siedem to give Harvard its first lead of the night.
Northeastern started its push early in the third period, with Gibson squeezing a wrist shot by Aiden McDonough from in close at 4:27.
Thirty seconds later, Fontaine tied it for Northeastern, jamming a puck past Gibson at 4:57.
Harvard had a golden chance midway through the frame as
Ryan Drkulec pounced on a rebound of a
Henry Thrun shot, but Levi made the stop.
Gibson came up with a left pad stop on Matt Choupani with just over 7 minutes to play to keep the game tied.
Harvard had its share of chances to score the game-winner, as Coronato's rebound attempt in the final minutes of regulation hit the post.
In overtime, Gibson stopped two Northeastern breakaways, and Coronato again had a chance to win it with less than five seconds remaining, but Levi made a sprawling right pad stop to keep the game tied.
In the shootout, Northeastern's Aidan McDonough scored the lone, deciding goal on the Huskies second attempt.
GAME NOTES
- Sophomore forward Matthew Coronato scored his team-leading 17th and 18th goals of the season, and his team-high sixth power play goal of the season. He recorded his fifth multiple-goal game of the season. Coronato now leads all ECAC Hockey skaters with 18 goals.
- Coronato leads all active Harvard players in Beanpot scoring with seven points (5-2-7) in four Beanpot contests.
- Sean Farrell (assist) now has 20 points (7-13-20) in his last 10 games.
- Harvard finished second in the Beanpot for the first time since 2008 (L, 6-5 OT vs. Boston College).
- Senior goaltender Mitchell Gibson (27 saves) has allowed two goals or less in 10 of his 18 starts this season
- Harvard is now 6-1-2 in overtime contests.
- Harvard finished the night 1-for-1 on the power play, while holding Northeastern scoreless on its lone power play chance.
UP NEXT
Harvard will host Union and RPI next weekend in its final regular season home series on Feb. 24-25, both games airing on ESPN+ and beginning at 7 p.m.
