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That’s a one shot difference.
In the highly anticipated annual duel of Boston’s top college hockey team, the No. 9 Harvard Crimson fell to the No. 16 Northeastern Huskies in a shootout.
Heartbreak occurred on the second Monday in February, at the iconic TD Garden in Boston, in the finals of the 2023 Beanpot Tournament (the historic 70th edition of the competition) and the first time Harvard has faced Northeastern in the finals. The Crimson have battled for their place in the championship, with first-year forward Marek Hejduk being the hero in the first half with two goals, including the overtime winner that gave Harvard a win over the Boston College Eagles.
The title game, in which Harvard has not returned since its last win in 2017, was a close one, in which former Harvard senior goaltender Mitchell Gibson and Huskies Devon Levi played a key role in the game. The pair only conceded two goals in regulation and none in overtime, with Gibson making 27 saves while Levi notched 32.
Levi was eager to visit the Crimson, with Harvard having scored eight goals against top 10 finalist Hobey Baker in an 8-4 New Year’s Day win earlier in the season. “They put the clinic on me,” said Levi at the post-match press conference. I want revenge.
And revenge is what led Levi to serve the Huskies. After former second-tier striker Matthew Coronato beat him twice in the second half to give the Crimsons the lead, Levi stopped all 14 shots against the Crimsons in the third. Teammate Gunnarwolfe Fontaine scored his second goal to tie the score five minutes into the third period, sending the game into overtime.
After an action-packed 3-on-3 overtime, the first of its kind in Beanpot Championship game history, the game was sent to penalties. With the entirety of TD Garden standing and hushed with anticipation, Harvard’s top 10 Hobey Baker finalist himself, former junior forward Sean Farrell, slid on Levi but was stopped by the Canadian, as was Northeastern first shooter Jack Hughes by Gibson. In the second round, Levi refused to allow Coronato to pass him a third time, stopping the Crimsons’ second attempt.
However, the Huskies equalized with captain Aidan McDonough earning a wrist from Gibson. With a game on the line, Harvard’s choice was junior forward Alex Laferriere, who, like his teammates, couldn’t get past Levi. The Beanpot Trophy was taken home with the Huskies for the eighth time in the program’s history, and Crimson was sent packing tails down.
I think this is a great opportunity to [have] play[ed], in the neighborhood, said Harvard head coach Ted Donato 91 at the time. For us, this is certainly a learning experience. If we want to be successful at the end of the year, we have to play in a difficult environment and play in high stress situations.
I think we’ll look back at this as a real growth opportunity, he said. However, for the remainder of the season, heartbreak would be a recurring theme.
In the weeks following the Beanpot blunder, the Crimson played some of his best hockey all season. The team went on a four-match winning streak to finish the regular season, facing and defeating four ECAC opponents: Union University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of St. Louis. Lawrence, and Clarkson University, respectively. With the win over Union, it secured a first-round bye in the ECAC Tournament.
In the second round and quarterfinals of the contest, Harvard hosted the Princeton University Tigers, and sent them back to New Jersey in decisive fashion, needing only the first two of a potential three-game series. With the series win, the Crimson earned a place in the semifinals at Lake Placid, and the team returned to the famous Herb Brooks arena with high hopes of defending their ECAC title.
Facing No. 10/11 Cornell in semifinals, Crimson No. 6 ready for dog fighting. Despite winning both regular season games against Big Red, Harvard has lost the 2022-23 Ivy League Crown to Cornell, given it relative to conference points.
The Crimson, the dominant force in the Ivy League, struggled with eliminating its conference foes in regulation, having beaten Cornell, Princeton, and Yale in overtime, as well as dropping a crucial game against Brown on January 21. At the end of the season, they fell short of the Ivy title by one point.
The game remained scoreless through regulation, as Gibson returned to match Cornell goalkeeper Ian Shane save after save. Laferriere secured the team’s championship performance with a quick goal within the first five minutes of stoppage time, ending a quick pass sequence with first-year Joe Miller and senior captain and forward Baker Shore.
The Crimson faced the unranked Colgate Raiders in the final the next night. 2 and eventual 2022-23 NCAA Champion Quinnipiac Bobcats the night before, the underdog Raiders came in hoping to continue their unexpected momentum. Scoring in the first minute of play to gain an advantage they refused to give up, Colgate kept rolling, beating Harvard by a final score of 3-2.
Unlike in 2021-2022, when an ECAC title win automatically secured his spot in the NCAA tournament, Harvard’s regular season success persuaded the selection committee to grant him a playoff berth. The No.7 Crimson faces No.8 Ohio State in the first round in Bridgeport, CT., on Friday, March 24.
The game delivered a crushing end to a season that had started with so much hope, as the Crimson fell to the Buckeyes 8-1. Until the second half ended 7-1. Harvard’s signature explosive offense was utterly silenced; overcame his locking defense. Gibson was withdrawn to start the third half for junior goaltender Derek Mullahy, despite scoring again with five minutes remaining for the final minutes of his college career.
It was a career-ending loss that was probably the worst loss I’ve had in my hockey career so far, said former senior forward and captain John Farinacci. It’s not one I’m used to with many goals, it’s tough I can’t put it into words right now. I have to digest it and move on.
Following the end of the season, the Crimson saw five of its stars sign professional contracts. Farrell, after being named ECAC and Ivy League Player of the Year, signed and made his NHL debut with the Montreal Canadiens. His first linemate Coronato did the same with the Calgary Flames, and Laferriere followed suit with the Los Angeles Kings. By signing, the three went pro for the remainder of their college year, with Farrell and Laferriere as juniors, and Coronato as a sophomore.
Former senior captain and ECAC Defensive Defensive Player of the Year Henry Thrun joined the San Jose Sharks for their final weeks of the season, while Gibson signed an amateur tryout contract with the Washington Capitals and joined their AHL team, the Hershey Bears. Farinacci was expected to sign with the Arizona Coyotes club who signed him in 2019 but failed to reach an agreement.
Passing with Thrun, Gibson, and Farinacci will be forward and captain of Baker Shore, first pair defenseman Ryan Siedam, forwards Wyllum Deveaux and Austin Wong, and defender Jace Foskey. After the loss though not originally drafted by the NHL Shore organization and Deveaux signed a minor league trial deal. Shore signed with the South Carolina Stingrays, the ECHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals, while Deveaux signed a deal with Wheeling Nailers, the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
i think this [was] a truly special group. I think coaches usually say that, but I think this group is probably the group I’ve been closest to as a coach in 19 years, Donato said in the Ohio State post-game press conference.
It’s a very close group. We have a group of people who feel privileged to play for Harvard and be taken care of [that] way, he continued. This season will not be defined by this [NCAA first round loss]. It’s disappointing, but these guys had a great year and of course, I’m proud not only of their performances but how they care for each other and how they carry themselves – they are an amazing group to coach.
Overall, the Crimsons’ season was filled with ups and downs, provided by a team whose majority of players returned. Next year, dropping 11 familiar faces and names on Harvard’s roster will look to have a wildly successful season just like the one in 2021-22, filled with younger players. Newly appointed captains, defender sophomore Ian Moore and forward sophomore Zakary Karpa, will look to set dressing room expectations and excite their team-mates for the potential success a 2023-24 season can bring.
Staff writer Bridget T. Sands can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @BridgSands.
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