On Friday afternoon, Harvard and Notre Dame met for the first time since 2015, a game won by the Crimson. But, after meeting for the first time in almost a decade, the Fighting Irish managed to even the score and pick up a victory against the Boston team. .

Much like its namesake, the Fighting Irish were ready to fight from the start. Notre Dame came out fast to start the game, controlling much of the offense and shot generation. His situation only improved when Harvard captain Zakary Karpa received the first penalty for tripping. Less than a minute into the power play, sophomore forward Cole Knuble took the puck below the goal line and found graduate forward Blake Biondi in the slot, who beat Koskenvuo on a clock to quickly take the lead for the Irish.

The teams evened up as the period progressed, with both teams finding their fair share of offensive opportunities. However, it is Notre Dame who will strike again in the last quarter of the period. On a faceoff in the Crimson zone, the puck was recovered by freshman defenseman Jaedon Kerr who fired a shot from a point that was difficult for Koskenvuo to see as it went over his left shoulder , extending the lead to 2-0.

A 3-0 start loomed on the horizon as the Irish didn’t wait long to strike again. Less than a minute after the previous goal, a shot from second-year defenseman Paul Fischer bounced off Koskenvuo, and the puck was collected by Biondi and buried to extend the lead to another goal.

As time neared the first half, Harvard returned to its locker room to try to solve its problems. At the start of the second period, freshman goaltender Ben Charette replaced Koskenvuo. Maybe it was that personnel change, but a new fire was lit under the Crimson as they took the ice by storm.

It didn’t take long for the Crimson to strike in the second half. Less than two minutes into the slate, an errant shot from sophomore forward Ben MacDonald bounced awkwardly off the boards behind the net where junior forward Joe Miller was able to scoop it up and tuck it in before the goalie of Notre-Dame Owen Say cannot lay his eyes. on the scrambled puck. The goal reduced the Irish lead, bringing the score to 3-1.

But more than that, it was a much-needed change in dynamic.

Harvard continued to dominate play throughout the second, winning faceoffs and generating shots on goal. That sustained pressure paid off, when just minutes after the first goal, a sloppy pass from a Notre Dame forward landed on the stick of sophomore forward Cam Johnson. Johnson skated the puck in a few steps and fired a shot from the top of the faceoff circles, putting it over Say’s glove and into the back of the net to make it 3-2.

The period once again became even as it progressed, with both teams getting big offensive thrusts, but to no avail on either side. The teams returned to their locker rooms at the end of the period, knowing that the next goal would be important.

Both teams fought hard to start the third, with neither seemingly willing to give in. However, the deadlock was finally broken in the second half of the period when freshman forward Justin Solovey received a hit from behind penalty, giving the Irish a power play opportunity. With less than five seconds left on the lead, Charette stopped not one, but two shots before the subsequent rebound found senior forward Justin Janicke struggling up front. The senior sent the puck into the net to extend Notre Dame’s lead to two goals, 4-2.

A dynamic-changing play would be necessary for the Crimson to find their way back into contention. The team was unable to deliver on its promises, however, and Notre Dame was able to seal the final nails in the coffin.

As the clock ticked down in the final minutes of the game, Harvard head coach Ted Donato decided to pull Charette in an attempt to score with the power play and bring his team within one point. But the Crimson failed to score and Knuble found the empty net to extend the Irish lead to 5-2 and seal the victory.

Despite the loss, Harvard showed a lot of life in this game, especially in the second half, and looked to carry the momentum from this game into the next day’s game against Merrimack.

It would be a long journey home for Donato’s team if his bench went 0-2 this weekend. Fortunately, the team was able to redeem itself after the Notre Dame drubbing and call the weekend a mixed success.

Building on its streak of greatness against the tough Fighting Irish, Harvard would need to string together three solid periods of hockey to face another tough team in Merrimack.

To do this, Donato relied on his first-year goalkeeper.

Freshman goaltender Ben Charette once again stood tall between the pipes against the Warriors, marking his first regular season start as a goaltender for the Crimson. Replacing star junior Aku Koskenvuo, the freshman delivered.

Learning their lesson from Friday, the Crimson showed their power early on, dictating much of the play in the first half and not allowing Merrimack to generate any offensive momentum. Barely halfway through the first period, his efforts finally paid off.

After receiving a pass from junior forward Ryan Healey, Miller fired a shot towards the goal that found the stick of junior forward Casey Severo, who was protecting sophomore goalie Max Lundgren, and tipped into the net , giving Harvard a 1-0 lead.

Despite the team effort, their lead didn’t last long, with the Warriors fighting back less than three minutes later, tying the game 1-1.

With the score tied, possession settled between the two teams, each taking turns striking and defending as the first half clock expired. Off the ice, the result of the first was certainly more positive than against Notre Dame, but the Crimson was once again ready to demonstrate its dominant style in the second.

The first minutes of play passed without incident at the start of the second, with neither team managing to open the scoring.

But all that changed with about 10 minutes remaining.

As Harvard entered the zone in a three-on-two, Miller carried the puck down the right side of the ice before slipping a pass through traffic to Severo, who fired a shot past Lundgren, extending the Crimson lead at 2-1.

Similar to the first half, Merrimack didn’t wait long to tie the score again. After a shot by senior defenseman Ivan Zivlak bounced off Charette’s pad, sophomore forward David Sacco slid the puck toward the slot, which deflected off the skate of Harvard defenseman Matthew Morden and into the net , tying the match 2-2.

Remaining deadlocked, everything would come down to an eventful third period. Harvard would need to light a spark to return home victorious.

The Crimson wasted no time getting things going in the third period, scoring after just 19 seconds. After receiving a crossfield pass from Healey, Miller entered the area and fired a pass to Severo in the middle, who quickly fired it into the top left corner. The goal gave Severo his first career hat trick and gave Harvard the lead again. For his heroic effort against Merrimack, Severo earned ECAC Forward of the Week.

A few minutes later, junior defenseman Trevor Griebel fumbled a routine pass out of the Warriors’ defensive zone, and the loose puck was collected by Johnson, who took it to the net and blasted it into the top corner right to extend the advance. at 4-2.

While Merrimack made a valiant effort in the second half of the third to mount a comeback, it was too little, too late, and the Crimson came away with the victory.

Harvard will look to continue its momentum next weekend when it returns home to Bright-Landry Hockey Center for its final homestand of the 2024 calendar year. It will host Clarkson on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and St. Lawrence on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Both games are available to stream on ESPN+.