CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Jack Donato scored exactly two minutes into overtime to lift the third-seeded Harvard University men's hockey team to a 4-3 victory over sixth-seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Game 1 of a best-of-three ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal series at Bright-Landry Hockey Center. With the win, the Crimson improve to 18-9-3, while Engineers drop to 17-22-3.

Donato's game-winner was Harvard's fourth goal in 5:48 of game time as the Crimson erased a 3-0 deficit with 3:48 remaining in regulation.

Marshall Rifai got Harvard on the board with a shot from the left point that made its way inside the right post. Helpers on the hosts' opening tally went to Nick Abruzzese and Nick Farinacci. Ryan Siedem then found the back of the net with a long shot from the right point with 1:58 to play in regulation. Farinacci and Alex Laferierre had the helpers on the play.

The Crimson pulled even at 3-3 with just 15.0 seconds on the clock. Abruzzese flipped the puck through his own legs to the left side of the crease, where Matthew Coronato was there for the tap-in finish.

Rensselaer started to build its lead in the first period. Senior captain Ture Linden buried a one-timer in the slot for the first of his two goals in the game at 12:42. Taking a fis feed from classmate Ottoville Leppanen, Linden fired a shot past Harvard goaltender Mitchell Gibson for a 1-0 advantage. The power play tally drew a secondary assist from junior TJ Walsh.

Linden doubled the RPI lead at 5:29 of the second, when Leppanen flew into the left side of the zone and dished a drop pass to Linden, who picked out the top right corner of the net for his second goal of the game and team-leading 20th of the season.

The Engineers pushed their lead to 3-0 at 2:07 of the third. Junior Rory Herrman stuck home a rebound at the left side of the Harvard cage for his third goal of the season. Walsh's initial shot was stopped by Watson, but Herrman was the first to the carom and he lifted the puck into an open net. Sophomore Jack Brackett also picked up an assist on the marker.

Gibson finished with 21 saves to pick up the win in goal, while RPI freshman Jack Watson had a career-high 42 saves at the other end of the ice, including 17 in the third period alone.

RPI finished 1 for 1 on the power play, while Harvard was 0 for 2. The game was the 42nd for the Engineers this season, which is a school record. Linden and junior Zach Dubinsky set the individual record, having each played in a every game this season.

Both teams are back in action for Game 2 of the series, with puck drop scheduled for 7pm.