The Engineers triumphed over the Harvard Crimsons with an emphatic 3-1 victory in front of a sold-out crowd at home on Big Red Freakout. The Engineers entered the game off a decent stretch of games this season, thumping Colgate University 6-1 and forcing Cornell to a shootout in a 1-1 result. Harvard, meanwhile, enters the game in a slump and fresh off a 4-1 loss to Union.
The game was played on the 48th annual Big Red Freakout, a yearly event where scores of Rensselaer join students and local fans at the Houston Field House. With an announced attendance of 4,456, officials announced that the arena was sold out before the game started, eclipsing attendance figures throughout the season. A crowd of onlookers found themselves standing behind the goal along the west side of the arena as the game progressed; it is unclear if they had moved in hopes for a better view or never been given one to start with.
Harvard, however, took the lead fifteen minutes into the first period as an open Crimson player fired it past freshman goaltender Nate Krawchuk. Harvard would continue to put Rensselaer on the ropes throughout the period and the game nearly seemed to spiral out of reach for the Engineers. Krawchuk himself almost had an injury scare when he landed face down on the ice after a Harvard player knocked into him. Adding salt to the wound, officials concluded that the collision was caused by a cross-check from Rensselaer’s Kazimier Sobieski, handing Harvard a power play. Sobieski was joined almost a minute later by Thomas Klassek, momentarily giving Harvard a five-on-three advantage.
But despite the rocky start, Rensselaer stabilized themselves in the second period. The Engineers withstood the five-on-three powerplay as well as a torrent of Crimson shots on the Rensselaer goal. Opportunistic counters—a specialty of the Engineer offense—would begin to increasingly threaten the Crimson goaltender. As the second period expired, momentum had begun to swing towards the Engineers despite the scoreless period.
Eight minutes into the third period, a Rensselaer power play finally put them on the scoreboard. With less than fifteen seconds left on the power play, a Max Scherzer pass found the stick of Engineer Jagger Tapper who poked it into the net, triggering the airhorns. The goal against Harvard’s vaunted power kill defense reengaged the 4400-strong Rensselaer crowd as “Let’s Go Red” and “Daddy’s Money” chants thundered throughout the Field House after the goal.
President Marty A. Schmidt ’81, quoted between the second and third periods, shouted out the Engineers "great video crew" and noted that "Coach Lang has called a couple of these goal challenges and he's won more than [he's] lost.” During the last period, what had seemed to be a Harvard goal was overturned due to goalie interference thanks to an astute challenge by the Engineers’ review team. “That was a big turnaround …being down two is worse than being down one” said the president. Schmidt’s observation would prove to be prescient.
Midway into the third period, what was originally a minor penalty on Rensselaer’s Will Hughes, was challenged again by the Engineers. After a drawn-out video review, referees would also tack on a major penalty on a Harvard player as well. A minor penalty called on Harvard’s captain seconds later would give the Engineers a 4 vs. 3 advantage.
The goal and the man-disadvantage seemed to spook the Harvard players. Almost inevitably, probing Rensselaer attacks would finally pierce through the beleaguered Harvard defense through the stick of Rainers Rullers into the top-left corner of the net to the roar of the Rensselaer fans.
Despite frantic efforts from Harvard to put themselves back in striking distance, Rensselaer had them pinned in their zone. Harvard pulled their goaltender with two minutes left to play, but the move was in vain as captain Dovar Tinling would golf the puck from behind Rensselaer’s goal line and watched it slowly slide into the back of the empty net.
The victory sees Rensselaer improve to 6-13-1 in the ECAC standings and remain in contention—though unlikely—to play playoff hockey on home ice if they win their next two games.
Even if the Engineers are unable to achieve this, their season has seen significant improvements across the team. The young core have continued to acclimate to NCAA hockey and held their own against all five Harvard power plays. Krawchuk—who saved 30 of 31 shots on goal Saturday night—has given Rensselaer the chance to win games against tougher opponents like Harvard. And perhaps most importantly, they’ve continued to stay strong late into games, to avoid more heartbreaks like the Mayor’s Cup.
The Engineers will end their season on the road Friday against Yale and then Saturday against Brown. Next week's results will determine who Rensselaer plays in the ECAC playoffs. The box score for this game can be found here.
