A Splendid Senior Sendoff
Harvard men’s ice hockey celebrates Senior Night with a shutout
By MIMI TARRANT
The Harvard men’s ice hockey team made their Senior Night one to remember, shutting out Yale 3-0 as they celebrated their six departing seniors on Saturday evening. With this win, Harvard extended their unbeaten streak at Bright-Landry to eight games, and have now won twelve of their last sixteen ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Hockey contests. Against old-time rivals Yale, there could not have been a better send-off for the ice hockey seniors, who now only have two more scheduled games in which they can wear the Harvard jersey.
As with any Harvard-Yale matchup, this game did not disappoint; with over 3000 in attendance, the Bright-Landry centre was alive with the the competitiveness that only this historic rivalry can bring. With the added value of Harvard’s Senior Night, it was clear from the outset that this would be a closely fought contest, where pride, as much as points, was on the line.
However, the night was not all about the seniors; junior Cameron Gornet, the goaltender, made a career high thirty-five saves to keep the Bulldogs out of the net, building on his strong run of performances for the Crimson. For keeping the Bulldogs at bay, Gornet earned the Tim Taylor Cup, awarded annually to the most valuable player in the Harvard-Yale hockey game. Harvard’s offensive play was just as consistent throughout, with the Crimson outshooting Yale 46-35, and each of the three Harvard goals being scored in separate periods. Jack Rathbone opened the scoring for Harvard after eight minutes, assisted by Jack Badini and Adam Fox (who recorded assists on all of Harvard’s goals on Saturday evening). This was followed by a rapid goal soon after the second period began, as senior Lewis Zerter-Gossage scored his 16th goal of the season; the leading goalscorer for the Crimson this year, he now has six goals in the last eight games and will be missed once his time comes to leave the ice. The third period saw the final goal of the game coming from Reilly Walsh; his goal means that he has now scored at least one point in each of the last ten games, with three goals and seven assists over this time period. Overall, whilst this was a night to commemorate Harvard’s seniors, it was also a sign of the promising things to come from the Harvard ice hockey freshman, sophomores, and juniors in the upcoming seasons.
With this win against Yale, Harvard has won their last five senior nights at Bright-Landry, consolidating Harvard’s standing in the ECAC. The team now stand at second in the ECAC leaderboard, one point behind the leaders Cornell. Harvard will be heading into their final two conference games, against Reissner and Union, with confidence in the team’s ability to finish the regular season with 18 wins under their belt. Either way, their win against Yale on Saturday night was a reminder of the team’s power to execute under pressure, and a fitting Senior Night for a class who have given so much to Harvard ice hockey over their four years on the ice.
Mimi Tarrant ‘21 (ameliatarrant@college.harvard.edu) will be remembering to take a extra warm jacket next time she goes to watch an ice hockey game.