CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — No. 18-ranked Harvard University picked up a pair of victories at home in Blodgett Pool on the final day of the Bruno Classic as the Crimson cut down Gannon University, 16-10, and Wagner College, 13-9.
In bot games, Harvard pulled away in the second half to as the Crimson conclude the opening weekend of the season with a 3-1 mark.
The Crimson got off to a hot start in the first game of the day after jumping out to a 5-1 lead. Harvard converted on four five-meter goals in the opening eight minutes, with Dean Strauser, Vilas Sogaard-Srikrishnan and Jacob Tsotadze finding the back of the net on the penalty shots. Gannon was able to bounce back in the second quarter and cut the Crimson lead from four goals to two after making it 6-4 with just under five minutes to play before halftime.
Harvard controlled the key remaining minutes of the first half, scoring another four goals to take a 10-5 lead into the break. Outscoring Gannon 5-1 in the dying minutes, Felix Pal scored the nicest goal of the run after waiting out the netminder for a strike late in the quarter.
Tyler Hogan scored twice and added an assist, while Lukas Peabody and Connor Kim both scored once. Strauser added two goals to go along with hat-tricks by Emil Sogaard-Srikrishnan, Tsotadze, Pal and Jack Burghardt.
On defense, Burghardt drew seven knockouts. Both netminders split time again in the morning with Oliver Price making six stops and Tanner Furtak accounting for seven stops.
Harvard picked up where it left off coming out of the break after scoring another four goals to lead 14-7 with a quarter to play. Outscoring the Golden Knights 4-2 in the third quarter, the Crimson was able to pull away for its second win of the season.
In the final game of the weekend, Jack Burghardt and Vilas Sogaard-Srikrishnan helped the Crimson pull away after combining for seven of the 13 Crimson tallies. Harvard jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the first quarter before Wagner battled back to tie the game at six heading into halftime.
Goals from Vilas Sogaard-Srikrishnan and Tyler Hogan in the third quarter helped Harvard acquire a one-goal lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Crimson pulled away over the final eight minutes of regulation for the third time in three games this weekend after outscoring the Seahawks 4-2 in the final eight minutes.
Vilas Sogaard-Srikrishnan scored three goals and added a helper, while Burghardt netted four goals.
Strauser added a goal and an assist to go along with a pair of strikes by Hogan.
Information courtesy Harvard University Athletics Communications
