Freshman Nets Four Goals in Defeat

Boston University forward Chris Connolly described the play of Harvard freshman Conor Morrison best.

“Unbelievable,” Connolly said. “He had a great night. The puck was on his stick all night, and he was burying his chances.”

Morrison, who scored four goals in a losing effort, was 20 seconds away from single-handedly beating BU, the defending NCAA Champions. He is the first Crimson player to score four goals in a game since Chris Bala accomplished the feat in 1998.

Before last night’s game, Morrison had one goal on the season. His offensive outburst now makes him Harvard’s leading goalscorer.

But BU’s 6-5 comeback win soured what was a career night for the rookie.

“I mean, we’ve been on kind of a rough stretch, so it’s tough to lose like that,” Morrison said. “At the same time, it was a special night for me, so I’ll be happy but not satisfied.”

For his first two goals, the freshman benefited from being in the right place at the right time.

He notched his first tally on a play where a referee deflected the puck with his skate, and he grabbed his second on a rebound.

But to complete the hat trick, Morrison added some of his own flair—he sped past a BU forward along the boards, cut inside toward the Terrier net, and then flipped a backhander into the goal.

Morrison finished the night with what seemed to be the game-winning tally with a minute remaining in the third period.

“He’s a talented guy. When he gets opportunities, he knows what to do with them,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “I’m very happy for him, obviously. It was a big boost to our team to have him step up and have a great game.”

SHOOTING AT GOLIATH

Although the Crimson found itself on the losing end, the battle with BU provides a glimmer of hope for a team that is currently in the midst of a seven-game winless streak. The Terriers are the defending NCAA Champions and, according to BU coach Jack Parker, played one of its best games of the year last night.

The Terriers have struggled this season, compiling a record of 4-7-1, and have been plagued by inconsistency and injuries.

The strong performance against Harvard was a surprise, primarily because it came immediately after Parker reprimanded his team for a lackluster practice the day before.

“I think [the win] was huge, especially after what happened yesterday at practice,” BU forward Joe Pereira said. “We had a stinker.”

POWER GENERATOR

The Terriers put the power in power play last night, taking advantage early of Crimson penalties.

BU converted on their first three attempts by moving the puck quickly, finding open shooting lanes, and cleaning up rebounds.

Pereira scored two of the BU power play goals and Zach Cohen scored the third after redirecting a slap shot past Richter.

Cohen’s goal came during an advantage created by a five-minute major penalty for boarding by freshman Brendan Rempel.

“I was really pleased with [the power play],” Parker said. “In general, we did a good job with special teams and we did a good job in our zone. When you go out on the road and you outshoot a team that’s as fast and as clever as this club…that’s what I was looking for and that’s what I was hoping for.”

The BU coaching staff made strategy adjustments for the team’s power play in order to deal with Harvard’s aggressive penalty kill. The changes resulted in many opportunities and several open looks on net.

“We changed our power play around quite a bit for this game and it really paid off,” Parker said. “Harvard really likes to pressure you...when we’re playing an umbrella like we do, it’s easy to chase us, so we changed it—a little different look.”

“We stretched them out pretty good,” he added. “They wound up settling down, quieting down, and that’s when we got some opportunities.”

—Staff writer Jake I. Fisher can be reached at jifisher@fas.harvard.edu.