TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey team took No. 12/13 Harvard University into overtime in ECAC Hockey action on Friday, but the Crimson pushed past the Engineers 3-2 to remain undefeated on the season. Harvard (5-0-0, 5-0-0 ECAC Hockey) was led by Alex Gaffney's two-goal effort with Zakary Karpa adding two assists.
After six minutes of play, RPI's (5-5-0, 1-4-0 ECAC Hockey) Sutter Muzzatti and
TJ Walsh found themselves in a 2-on-2 transition opportunity, but Harvard goaltender Mitchell Gibson came up with a bottom corner glove save.
Ten minutes later, Rensselaer's
Ryan Mahshie and Brendan Budy contributed to physical plays deep in the right corner of the Harvard end to set up
Lauri Sertti with a shot from the blue line. The junior's low shot to the right corner was knocked to the side by Gibson to keep the game scoreless.
RPI's defense was put to work early to start the second period. The Engineers held Harvard to one wide shot to kill their 18th power play of the season. Less than two minutes later, Mahshie picked up the puck off a turnover right in front of the Crimson net. The senior scored his third goal of the season to put the Cherry and White up 1-0 5:31 into the period.
Rensselaer kept their foot on the gas with shots from Sertti, Austin Heidemann and
Mason Klee in the first 30 seconds after Mahshie's goal. Following a Sertti block on a Karpa shot, RPI's
John Beaton carried the puck into the neutral zone following a Harvard turnover. The junior was able to slot the puck into the path of John Evans, who then had a breakaway straight towards the Crimson net. The freshman beat Gibson to the puck, kept his composure and put away RPI's insurance goal at the 6:40 mark.
Less than two minutes into the third period, Harvard's Austin Wong ended the RPI shutout with a slotted shot, even with the goal line, behind Rensselaer's
Jack Watson. Wong's first goal of the season was assisted by Marek Hejduk and Kyle Aucion.
Harvard tied the game at the 14:54 mark with a top shelf goal from 20 feet away by Crimson's Gaffney. The sophomore's goal was assisted by Ryan Siedem.
After neither team could break the tie in regulation, Rensselaer and Harvard went into overtime for the 15th time in series history. Both Watson and Gibson came up with key saves early in 3-on-3 play. After Watson came up with a save on Gaffney, the sophomore collected the rebound from his own shot and ripped a second from 15 feet away to score the game-winner at 2:44. The West Orange, N,J., native was assisted by Jack Bar and Karpa.
Gibson (3-0-0) was credited with the win on 20 saves while Watson (5-5-0) took the loss on a 34 save effort. Sertti and Siedem were the leading shot blockers on both squads with four apiece.
Harvard's 3-2 overtime win was the first time RPI lost at home this season and its first overtime loss at the Houston Field House since October 16, 2021, in a 3-2 final against Canisius.
RPI takes on Dartmouth tomorrow, November 12, at 7pm at Houston Field House. Harvard travels to Union for a 7pm contest.
