Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Harvard Headlines- Mid-Week Edition

It's been a while since our last Blog version of the Harvard Headlines but it's a busy day for the Crimson, and there's plenty of information about the Crimson across the Web, so today seemed like the best day to change that. With that in mind, here we go.

Ivan Maisel has a new ESPN column about a similarity between Harvard and Yale- both teams have (or will have in the case of the Crimson) quarterbacks on their depth chart who went from the BCS to the Ivy League. The article compares Patrick Witt (younger brother of former Harvard QB Jeff Witt), who transferred from Nebraska to the Elis, with Andrew Hatch, who transferred from LSU back to the Johnnies.

The article is worth the read just to again prove what many already know if they follow Harvard sports- that head coach Tim Murphy is a class act. Murphy kept in contact with Hatch after he originally left Harvard, and even sent a congratulatory note to Hatch after his first career start and win over Appalachian State. [ESPN]

The weekly Ivy League teleconference occurred yesterday. Coach Phil Estes of Brown spoke of the emphasis his team put on the kicking game this week after an effort at Stony Brook saw them miss an extra point, the game winning field goal, in addition to poor coverage on kickoffs resulting in good field position. Speaking about Harvard's offense, Coach Estes spoke positively of Collier Winters' ability to elude the pass rush, and says his team cannot solely focus on containing Winters because Harvard can run and throw the ball as well. [Ivy League Sports]

Harvard head coach Tim Murphy also fielded some questions, including the difficulties of preparing for a Friday night game and about the Brown game being a rivalry game.

Coach Murphy had this to say about the nature of the rivalry between Harvard and Brown.
Every game with us is a "rivalry" game. I get this question every week. Our big rival is obviously Yale and traditionally Princeton as well. We've got a bull's-eye on our front and our back as well... Whoever wants to call us a rival is fine with us.
[GoCrimson]

Moving off the gridiron and on to the ice, recent Harvard alumnus and last year's co-captain and co-host of Top Shelf, Jimmy Fraser, was mentioned in the Providence Journal as someone who had made an impression on the Baby Bruins' coach Rob Murray during the first day of training camp. Fraser will have an opportunity tonight to continue to impress coach Murray as Providence starts their preseason against Springfield in Marlboro. [Providence Journal]

Staying on the ice, the ECAC held its women's hockey coaches' teleconference yesterday, at the end of which the ECAC revealed the coaches' season predictions and the preseason All-Conference Team. Harvard received three first place votes and 103 points total for second place in the coaches' poll behind St. Lawrence University. Goaltender Christina Kessler was named to the All-Conference Team. [GoCrimson]

Midweek Games of the Week

The field hockey (3-1) team looks to get back to their winning ways with another trip to the Nutmeg State as they face the undefeated no. 5 UCONN Huskies (7-0) tonight in Storrs, CT. Last time out, the Crimson gave up a hat trick to Yale's Ashley McCauley during a 4 goal Eli first half, before rallying with three unanswered goals in the second half. The Crimson offense has scored 15 goals so far this season.

Meanwhile, the undefeated no. 6 men's soccer team (5-0) have their second of a four game road trip as they face the New Hampshire Wildcats (2-3-1) this afternoon. The Crimson started the road trip with a 4-1 win over Fairfield. The Crimson are trying to match their best start to a season since 2007.

No comments:

Post a Comment