Brown Loses Game One in Best of Three ECAC Hockey Playoffs

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Senior Matt Lorito (Oakville, Ontario) and junior Nick Lappin (Geneva, Ill.) both scored for the Bears, but it was not enough to climb back from a four-goal deficit, as the Brown men’s hockey team fell to sixth-seeded Harvard, 6-2, in game one of the ECAC First Round Friday at the Bright-Landry Center.

The eleventh-seeded Bears move to 8-19-3 overall, while the Crimson improve to 16-11-3 on the season after taking game one of the best-of-three series.

Sophomore Tim Ernst (Pickering, Ontario) allowed four goals and made 13 saves, before giving way to Tyler Steel (Vernon, British Columbia), who made 17 stops. Steve Michalek recorded 28 saves in the win, while Jimmy Vesey and Colin Blackwell scored two goals apiece to pace the Crimson.

Harvard struck first with a power-play goal at 3:57, when Vesey slid a pass through the slot to the left circle, where Kyle Criscuolo took advantage of the open net for the early advantage.

The Crimson tacked on another goal at 12:33, just one second after their power play expired, when Blackwell flipped a rebound over the shoulder of Ernst to give the home side the two-goal lead at the first intermission. Harvard held a 14-11 shot advantage in the opening period.

Harvard carried over its momentum into the second period with a pair of goals five minutes into the stanza. After Vesey hit a one-timer from the slot at 3:23, Jake Horton scored less than a minute later, as he slipped the puck past Ernst to give the Crimson a four-goal advantage.

Brown jumped on the board at 11:17 when Lorito notched his 11th goal of the season just two seconds after a five-on-three opportunity expired. Massimo Lamacchia (Maple, Ontario) corralled the puck behind the net and hit Lorito out front, who beat Michalek for the power-play goal to trim the deficit to one, 4-1, at the second intermission. Mark Naclerio (Milford, Conn.) also earned an assist on the play.

After Blackwell and Vesey scored back-to-back goals to open the third period, Nick Lappin tipped home his own rebound at 16:54 for his 12th tally of the season, closing the gap to four by the end of regulation as the home side secured the opening game.  

Brown and St. Harvard face off in the second game of the best-of-three series tomorrow evening at 7 p.m.