Men's Hockey Falls To Brown, 2-1

The Harvard men’s hockey team was slow out of the gates against Brown and, despite multiple chances to fight back, was never able to make up the lost ground.

Brown (4-6-1, 2-4-1 ECAC) rode two first period goals to victory on Friday night in Providence, defeating the Crimson, 2-1.

Harvard (4-7-1, 2-6-1) was able to tally a goal less than two minutes into the third period, as sophomore forward Jimmy Vesey put a shot past Brown goaltender Tyler Steel to cut the deficit to one.

The goal marked Vesey’s team-high eighth of the season and Hart’s team-leading seventh assist of the year.

But the Crimson was unable to register a goal on any of its other seven shots in the final frame to force the game into overtime.

Brown maintained high offensive pressure throughout the contest, out-shooting Harvard in every period and recording a total of 32 shots to the Crimson’s 18.

Freshman forward Kyle Kramer opened the scoring for Brown less than six minutes into the match-up. The rookie took a feed from junior defenseman Joey de Concilys and sophomore defenseman Bradon Pfeil and rocketed it into the back of the net. The goal was the first of Kramer’s career.

The Bears followed this up later in the period by capitalizing on its first power play opportunity of the game. After a Harvard freshman defenseman was called for roughing, Brown junior forward Matt Lorito and sophomore forward Mark Nacierio helped move the puck and set up senior defenseman Dennis Robertson, who was able to finish past senior goaltender Raphael Girard. With the assists, Naciero and Lorito lead the Bears in points with 14 and 12, respectively.

Despite allowing two goals, goaltender Girard managed to turn away 30 shots on the night.

Girard left the net with 1:12 remaining in the contest in favor of the extra man on attack, but the move was unsuccessful as Harvard was unable to score a goal before the buzzer sounded.

The Crimson had two man-advantages in the first frame on boarding and tripping calls, but the team was unable to tally a goal after these minor penalties. Harvard finished the game 0-for-3 on the power play.

The Crimson has struggled all year on the man-advantage, only managing to score once on the team’s 14 attempts. Harvard ranks second-to-last in the Ivy League in power play conversion, leading only Yale who has yet to score man-up all season.

With the loss, just one point separates the Crimson from the bottom of the ECAC rankings. Only Dartmouth and Princeton are below Harvard in the current standings.

Friday’s contest also marks the team’s second straight loss and seventh in its last nine games. The Crimson is 1-2 thus far on a four game road trip, which concludes Saturday at Yale.

Harvard has struggled in Providence in recent history. The team has lost three consecutive match-ups against the Bears in Meehan Auditorium, with its last win coming in Feb.2011.

—Check thecrimson.com for updates.