Michigan
14-3-0
Harvard
5-2-1
Horcoff Scores Twice as No. 1 Michigan Rolls Past Harvard
11/28/2025 10:54:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Will Horcoff scored twice to extend his nationwide goal-scoring lead with a three-point game.
» Nick Moldenhauer followed up a career-best three-point outing with two assists.
» Cole McKinney scored a power-play goal, the first surrendered by Harvard this year.
BOSTON, Mass. -- The No. 1-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team knocked off Harvard 5-1 in a non-conference showdown on Friday (Nov. 28) inside the Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
Freshman goaltender Jack Ivankovic was terrific in net for U-M, making 32 saves on 33 shots that he faced from a talented Harvard outfit to earn his 14th victory of the season. The win marked Ivankovic's second straight outing with just one goal allowed.
The beginning of the game was characterized by a feeling-out period as the teams met in Harvard's (5-2-1) home rink for the first time in the history of the series, but Michigan (14-3-0) never looked back after beginning to tilt the ice following the first media timeout.
Forward Josh Eernisse continued his outstanding senior campaign by opening the scoring to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead at 11:49. Freshman defenseman Drew Schock earned the primary assist by making an exceptional pass from behind the net to get Eernisse the puck as he collapsed toward the blue paint. Schock's classmate, Asher Barnett, recorded the secondary helper.
Less than two minutes later, Will Horcoff extended his nationwide goal-scoring lead by burying his 15th marker of the season at 13:14 off a beautiful give-and-go that made it 2-0 in Michigan's favor. After Michael Hage kept the puck in the zone, junior Nick Moldenhauer slipped a pass to the slot for Horcoff from his position below the goal line. The sophomore sniper exhibited patience to take care of the rest by deciding to forego an attempt with his forehand. After waiting for the puck to travel further into the slot to reach his backhand, Horcoff flipped a crafty shot into the top shelf.
In the first frame, the Crimson watched two power-play opportunities come and go without converting due to a pair of strong efforts by U-M's penalty-kill unit. The Wolverines built up a 14-7 advantage in shots on goal and a 10-7 edge in the faceoff dot through 20 minutes.
Harvard's penalty kill continued its unblemished start to the season by killing off the first opportunity of the contest for Michigan's power play. The Crimson found success by constructing a wall near their blue line to make zone entries as difficult as possible.
Michigan's second opportunity on the power play came less than five minutes later, following a Harvard holding infraction at 12:43, and the Wolverines made this one count to become the first group to score a power-play goal against the Crimson. It took just 11 seconds for the Wolverines to pull off an impressive tic-tac-toe passing play, with center Cole McKinney finishing off the sequence for a PPG from the slot following assists from Malcolm Spence and Jayden Perron.
With the secondary helper, Perron extended his team-high active point streak to five games.
The Wolverines carried a three-goal lead into the second intermission. U-M maintained a 24-18 advantage in shots on goal and widened its lead in the faceoff dot to 27-16.
Back in action for the third period, Horcoff continued his torrid scoring pace to double his damage at 5:06 and make it 4-0 after finding a bit of space in the slot to bang home a one-timer off a quick feed from Hage. Moldenhauer notched the other assist, his second of the game, on Horcoff's second tally of the night.
Harvard spoiled the shutout less than two minutes later to cut the deficit to 4-1 at 6:28 after a Crimson forward was able to slip a puck between the post and Ivankovic's pad.
Michigan regained its four-goal lead by making it 5-1 at 12:41 with an extra attacker on the ice due to a delayed penalty call. As the puck circled around the boards toward the blue line, Hage swatted it back into the zone with a no-look pass to Horcoff. Searching for a third goal to secure his second hat trick, Horcoff put the initial attempt off the pad from the left flank to send a rebound skittering out to the right of the cage. Spence was perfectly positioned off to the side of the goalmouth to bury the rebound from his place near the goal line and finish off the scoring.
U-M put the finishing touches on a 5-1 road victory to bump the team's non-conference record to 8-1.
Each team ended the night with 33 shots on goal while Michigan retained the upper hand in the faceoff circle (36-29). Harvard entered the game with the nation's top-ranked penalty kill unit, having started the year 19-for-19, but McKinney's marker with the extra skater brought that run to an end. U-M finished the night with a perfect 4-for-4 run on the penalty kill.
On Saturday night (Nov. 29), the Wolverines will finish out the annual non-conference slate against the Crimson. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
