NEW YORK – Liam Motley scored his first collegiate goal, but the Cornell men's hockey team's annual party at Madison Square Garden was spoiled when Harvard scored four unanswered goals for a 4-1 victory on Saturday night. It marked the first loss for the Big Red in the four editions of the biennial event at The World's Most Famous Arena.

Henry Bowlby scored twice for Harvard (3-3-2) and Casey Dornbach had primary assists on the first three goals before Adam Fox's empty-netter late in the third period. Michael Lackey made 30 saves to earn the victory for the Crimson.

Cornell (5-4), which entered the game ranked 15th nationally in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, struck first to set the crowd of more than 14,132 partisan Big Red fans into frenzy, before the script flipped in the second period. Motley did the honors, tipping in a point shot from Alec McCrea to give the Big Red a goal in the opening seven minutes for the sixth time in nine games. 

But after a fairly evenly remainder of the period, Harvard took control in the second. Lewis Zerter-Gossage tied the game with a power-play goal, then Bowlby tapped in Dornbach's textbook feed on a two-on-one to give the Crimson its first lead.

Cornell gained traction early in the third period, but Lackey made some notable saves to keep Harvard on top — including a three-shot flurry from Cam Donaldson and Mitch Vanderlaan in less than five seconds. The sequence ended with Lackey extending his right pad while leaning forward on the ice, thwarting Vanderlaan's final rebound attempt. Lackey made 15 of his 30 stops in the third.

After the Big Red failed to convert on its only full two-minute power play of the night, Bowlby's second goal put Harvard in the driver's seat. Fox capped the scoring later.

Cornell's setback was its first in the history of The Frozen Apple, following victories over Michigan (2012), Penn State (2014) and New Hampshire (2016). Though it was a meeting of traditional ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rivals, Saturday's game was a non-league affair.
 

The Big Red's Lineup:

 
 

How The Goals Were Scored:

Cornell's 1st Goal
1st period, 6:55  •  Motley 1 (McCrea, Starrett)  •  Cornell 1, Harvard 0
• Starrett took a shot from the right circle that was jammed away by Fox, but it also caused the Harvard defenseman to lose his stick. That aided in Starrett's effort to win back possession behind goal, and he worked the puck back up to McCrea on the right point. He got off a quick shot that was redirected into the net by Motley stationed on top of the crease.
 
Harvard's 1st Goal
2nd period, 3:20  •  Zerter-Gossage 6 (Dornbach, Fox) (pp)  •  Cornell 1, Harvard 1
• Working on the power play, Fox passed to Dornbach. He deked his defender to the ice before ripping a shot that was stopped by the outer reaches of his right pad. That forced the puck to bounce directly up the slot, where Zerter-Gossage collected and whirled around to his forehand to slide a shot through Galajda's legs.
 
Harvard's 2nd Goal                                                                        
2nd period, 9:46  •  Bowlby 2 (Dornbach, Drury) (pp)  •  Harvard 2, Cornell 1
• In the Harvard zone, McCrea came toward the right circle with a shot attempt that was blocked. Harvard was first to the puck and Drury quickly made a pass to from the hash mark to beat the Cornell forwards backchecking and send Dornbach speeding away on a two-on-one. He hesitated as he gained the right circle in the Cornell zone to draw the defender to the ice, then tucked a pass around him for Bowlby to shovel in at the back post.
 
Harvard's 3rd Goal                                                                         
3rd period, 13:58  •  Bowlby 3 (Dornbach, Walsh)  •  Harvard 3, Cornell 1
• With the Big Red starting to press in hopes an equalizer, both defensemen surged forward in the Crimson zone before Dornbach's clear off the half wall in front of the team benches. Bowlby sped between the two forwards back on the Cornell blue line, then picked up the puck for a semi-breakaway that he tucked between Galajda's legs.
 
Harvard's 4th Goal                                                                         
3rd period, 18:50  •  Fox 4 (Gregoire, Olson) (en)  •  Harvard 4, Cornell 1
• After more than two minutes of playing with an empty net in favor of an extra attacker, the Big Red finally succumbed when Olson threw the puck off the left wall into the neutral zone. Gregoire collected and dished off to Fox near the Harvard blue line, and he took a stride toward the middle of the ice before wristing a shot more than 100 feet into the empty net.
 

Up Next:

• The Big Red returns to ECAC Hockey play one last time before the lengthy mid-season hiatus, visiting Dartmouth at 7:30 p.m. Friday before a rematch against Harvard at 7 p.m. Saturday.