Daniells Scores With 2.9 Seconds Left As Men's Hockey Beats No. 18 Harvard, 3-2

Saturday, January 3

Princeton, N.J.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

10-4-0, 6-2-0

No. 18/18 Harvard

7-5-1, 5-3-0

Harvard

Princeton

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Daniells Scores With 2.9 Seconds Left As Men's Hockey Beats No. 18 Harvard, 3-2

January 03, 2026 | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

Hobey Baker Rink History Has Been Made!

A thrilling 3-2 win over No. 18 Harvard secured Princeton's eighth consecutive win on home ice to start the season, breaking the program record of seven set in the venerable barn's first season in 1923.

Kai calls game!

Calm under pressure, Daniells gets it done to give Princeton the W!@ecachockey | @TeamECH | @NCAAIceHockey pic.twitter.com/5VeZgfSRY5
— Princeton Men's Ice Hockey (@princetonhockey) January 4, 2026

In the process, the Tigers completed their first home sweep of Dartmouth and Harvard since the 2012-13 season and secured the program's seventh weekend sweep of ranked opponents all-time.

The Tigers improve to 10-4-0 overall and 6-2-0 inside the ECAC, moving into first place in the ECAC standings 19 points.

Princeton reached 10 wins in 14 games, the fastest a Tiger team reached double digits in victories since the 2008-09 team needed 12 games to do so on its way to the NCAA Tournament.

The victory hung in the balance until the final seconds when Kai Daniells redirected a Kai Greaves shot with 2.9 seconds left and it found the back of the net to ignite the Baker Rink crowd and stun the Crimson.

That the play was even possible may have been the result of some help from the ghosts of Baker Rink. A clearing attempt from the Crimson in the final seconds hit the scoreboard at center ice and forced a faceoff deep in the Harvard zone with 5.9 seconds left in regulation.

Daniells won the draw clean back to Greaves and then got his blade on a wrister from the point to knock it inside the near post for his team-leading 13th goal of the season.

Daniells finished with two points, adding an assist on Jake Manfre's goal in the second period. Manfre had a two-point night of his two with a goal and a helper, while linemate David Jacobs made it a clean sweep of all three goals coming off that line's stick.

Arthur Smith made 33 saves in the win, recording his second win of the season after missing nine games with injury. Smith made 13 stops in the first period to keep the Crimson off the scoreboard, and had 11 total saves in the third while the Crimson mounted their comeback.

Save By Smith!

Huge sliding stop from Arty to keep us in front by one!@ecachockey pic.twitter.com/i7DxArtpsp
— Princeton Men's Ice Hockey (@princetonhockey) January 4, 2026

After a scoreless first period where the teams combined for 23 shots on goal, the Tigers tallied twice in the second period to build a 2-0 lead.

David Jacobs connected first, turning and firing over Charette's blocker 4:45 into the period off an assist from Jake Manfre.

The captain leading the way!

Jacobs scores the first goal of the game to get the Tigs on the board!@ecachockey | @TeamECH | @NCAAIceHockey pic.twitter.com/d88VWBes7i
— Princeton Men's Ice Hockey (@princetonhockey) January 4, 2026

Just under four minutes later, Manfre scored goal of his own when he slipped open at the top of the crease to flip in a Kai Daniells centering pass with 11:40 to play in the middle frame.

Manfre pulls together Princeton's second goal of the game!@ecachockey | @TeamECH | @NCAAIceHockey pic.twitter.com/6wVSQvLyu8
— Princeton Men's Ice Hockey (@princetonhockey) January 4, 2026

The Crimson closed to within one early in the third period via a Joe Miller goal 0:46 in. Mick Thompson looped a pass toward goal from along the halfwall, and Casey Severo's initial redirection was saved by Smith before Miller knocked in the rebound.

Harvard would tie the game with 7:21 to play off a Salvatore Guzzo goal. A looping pass from Drake Murray sent Guzzo away and he caught a break when a Princeton defender tripped at the blue line allowing Guzzo a free run to the net for a goal inside the far post.

Princeton concludes its five-game homestand hosting RPI (Jan. 9; 7 p.m.) and Union (Jan. 10; 7 p.m.) at Baker Rink.