Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Pier-Olivier Michaud had a goal and an assist and freshman goaltender Matt Hoyle stopped 27 of 28 shots to lead #18 Harvard to a 3-1 victory over the Rensselaer men's hockey team.  Freshman Josh Rabbani tallied for the Engineers, who saw Mathias Lange save 33 shots, including 17 in the third period.  

Michaud, a sophomore, had his second straight multiple-point game, Hoyle earned his second win in as many collegiate starts and defense partners Ian Tallett and Alex Biega scored goals for the Crimson.

Both teams were 1 for 10 on the power play, and the Crimson owned a 38-26 edge in shots. Lange (Klagenfurt, Austria/New York Apple Core) made 18 of his 33 saves while the Engineers (1-5-1, 0-1-0) were shorthanded. Harvard surrendered just six shots on goal in 10 power plays against.

Harvard took the lead barely four minutes into the game on Tallett's first career goal. He intercepted an RPI clearing attempt at the blue line against the left boards and ripped a slap shot. The puck deflected off an RPI stick, off the inside of the left post and into the back of the net.

The Crimson got its first power play of the night shortly thereafter. Harvard kept the puck in the offensive zone the entire two minutes but had five shots blocked by the penalty-killing Engineers. Rensselaer held an 11-8 edge in first-period shots.

Harvard overcame six second-period penalties to hold a 9-7 advantage in shots in the period. The Engineers killed an early penalty before spending much of the rest of the frame on the man-advantage, including a 79-second two-man edge. Hoyle made a pair of tough saves during the 5-on-3 and got help from killers Jimmy Fraser, Chad Morin and Tallett blocking shots.

Perhaps the best Crimson scoring chance of the scoreless second period came early in the period while on the penalty kill. Sophomore Matt McCollem broke up the RPI breakout behind the net and got the puck to junior Doug Rogers, but Lange stopped the Harvard center from point-blank range.

In the third period, it was Rensselaer's penalty kill that was put to the test, as Harvard registered 19 shots in the frame, 11 coming on five power plays. Harvard had two chances with a 5-on-3 edge and made the first count. After passes from freshman Alex Killorn and Michaud, Biega blasted a shot from the right point that found the bottom right corner as the first RPI penalty expired at 6:48.

Hoyle had the best save the next time the Engineers were two men down, as defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer (East Setauket, NY/New York Apple Core) collected the puck near center and went in alone for a breakaway. The RPI junior deked to his backhand but was stoned by Hoyle's right pad.

The Crimson picked up its pressure from there, but Lange hung tough until his teammates looked to rally in the final five minutes. Skating on the power play, Rabbani (Woodland Hills, CA/St. Louis Bandits) notched his first career point with 4:52 showing on the game clock. He grabbed the puck after a Chase Polacek (Edina, MN/Academy of Holy Angels) shot and slipped it past Hoyle from in front of the left post. Tyler Helfrich (Calgary, AB/Prince George Spruce Kings) also assisted on the play.

Harvard was whistled for another penalty in the final two minutes, and Rensselaer looked to capitalize by pulling Lange in favor of an extra attacker. It was Michaud, though, who scored. After the Engineers tried to send a puck into the Harvard zone and it was knocked down by Morin, Michaud won possession, skated to the RPI blue line and found the open net for his third goal and fifth point in two games.

The Crimson and Engineers meet again Friday in the Crimson's road opener in Troy for the 6th Annual Black Friday (7pm).