March and April Schedule Update

March and April are a pretty nebulous time around the WHRB Sports department. The winter sports are starting to wind down...but before they do, there's an incredible amount of uncertainty as teams head to the playoffs. In addition, while we don't regularly cover spring sports, we do several games for the spring teams. For that reason, we do not have much of a schedule set for these two months but we can tell you what we do know.

Men's Hockey
We'll have broadcasts of every men's hockey playoff game as per the normal. As games happen, we'll update our schedule on the upper right hand corner of the blog. For now, the schedule is:
March 4- Men's Hockey at Clarkson, 7pm
March 5- Men's Hockey at Clarkson, 7pm
March 6- Men's Hockey at Clarkson, 4pm (if necessary)
and as always, our coverage will start 15 minutes prior to the drop of the puck.

Men's Basketball
This Friday and Saturday, the last two games of the regular season will be broadcast using the low-bandwidth stream of WHRB.org. In addition, if Harvard has the chance to clinch a share of its first ever Ivy title, we will have live look-ins for the Harvard-Princeton game on both 95.3FM and on both the high and low bandwidth streams of WHRB.org. If there is an Ivy League playoff we will be 99% likely to cover it (barring it does not conflict with the Met Opera, of course) in some capacity. We will also do our best to cover Harvard's postseason.
March 4- Men's Basketball vs. Pennsylvania, 7pm (WHRB.org low-bandwidth stream)
March 5- Men's Basketball vs. Princeton, 7pm (WHRB.org low-bandwidth stream)
Our coverage will begin 15 minutes before tip-off.

Men's Lacrosse
WHRB is excited that for the third straight year, we will be partnering with Harvard athletics to provide live commentary of Harvard lacrosse. We will provide the live audio on the GoCrimson.com subscription service for all of the home games at Harvard Stadium. We are also working on bringing you the audio for the Harvard-Georgetown game on March 8th at Soldiers Field Lacrosse Stadium on tape delay, though we haven't completed all of the logistics yet. We will include all of our GoCrimson.com broadcasts where we normally schedule our games.
March 8- Men's Lacrosse vs. Georgetown, 3pm (tentative) (GoCrimson.com) (tape delayed start)
March 29- Men's Lacrosse vs. Massachusetts, 7pm (GoCrimson.com)
April 9- Men's Lacrosse vs. Cornell, 2:15pm (GoCrimson.com)
April 16- Men's Lacrosse vs. Pennsylvania, 1pm (GoCrimson.com)
April 30- Men's Lacrosse vs. Yale, 1pm (GoCrimson.com)
Our coverage will begin about 10 minutes before the first face-off.

Baseball
There's always something special about the Beanpot, regardless of the sport, as Boston's (or in this case, Massachusetts's) best compete for annual bragging rights. Baseball is certainly no different, which is why we're proud to once again bring you the Baseball Beanpot on WHRB.
April 20- Baseball vs. Massachusetts, 6:30pm from Lowell, MA
April 26- Baseball vs. Boston College/Northeastern, Time TBD from Fenway Park
Our pregame coverage will begin about ten minutes before the opening pitch.

Football
Football? In the spring? That's right. For the first time ever, WHRB will broadcast the Harvard football spring game live over the air. Spring games have been receiving more and more attention every year thanks to the growth of sports channels dedicated to collegiate athletics. Get your first look at the squad that will be competing for a 2011 Ivy League title by tuning in.
April 23- Football Spring Game, 7pm
Just like the fall, we'll have a half-hour pregame show before the opening kick.

Sportstalk
As detailed in another post, Sportstalk is moving to a new time. We'll now air fifteen minutes later- from 1:15 until 2:00pm every Sunday with updates of all 41 varsity sports.

That already seems like a full spring and we haven't even covered the possibilities of playoff runs by the women's hockey and women's basketball teams, or looked much at the possibility of deep runs by the men's hockey and basketball teams as well. We are thrilled to keep expanding our coverage of Harvard athletics and hope you are just as excited to listen in for the next couple of thrilling months for the Cantabs!

Thanks for listening!

Women's Hockey: Playoff Update 3

Hanover, NH- The decisive game three between the Dartmouth Big Green and Clarkson Golden Knights was a back and forth affair that took almost an entire extra period to settle. After a scoreless first period, Dartmouth got on the board first but two minutes later it was all tied again. Halfway through the period, Camille Dumais scored her first of two goals for the Big Green, but Clarkson soon tied and then took a lead of their own with two unanswered to go ahead 3-2 at the end of two. The Knights defense held steady and the North Country squad was just 54 seconds away from advancing to the ECAC semifinals when Reagan Fischer scored a shorthanded goal to send things to OT. There, the Big Green eventually got the game winner as Dumais scored her second, this one on the power play. at the 18:37 mark of a dominant OT performance. The Big Green outshot Clarkson 19-1 in the extra frame and led in shots overall 42-32. Clarkson was 0-3 with the extra attacker while Dartmouth was 0-7.

Three Stars
1. Camille Dumais, Dartmouth- 2 Goals (including GWG) plus an assist on the GTG
2. Erica Howe, Clarkson- Made 38 saves on 42 shots and did her best to keep Clarkson in a lopsided OT, making 18 saves on 19 OT shots while Clarkson mustered only 1 on the other end.
3. Amanda Trunzo, Dartmouth- Two assists, coming on the GTG and GWG

Semifinal Matchups Set
The semifinals are a best of one.
1. Cornell (2-0) vs. 5. Quinnipiac (2-0) - Thursday, 7pm in Ithaca, NY
Season Series- Cornell won 2-0
@ Quinnipiac (Oct. 29) 5-1 W Cornell
@ Cornell (Nov. 20) 4-0 W Cornell
Cornell Home Record: 17-1
Quinnipiac Road Record: 11-7-1

2. Harvard (2-0) vs. 3. Dartmouth (2-1) - Thursday, 7pm in Cambridge, MA
Season Series- Harvard won 2-0
@ Harvard (Nov. 19) 5-3 W Harvard
@ Dartmouth (Nov. 20) 3-2 W Harvard
Harvard Home Record: 10-3-1
Dartmouth Road Record: 9-5

Women's Hockey: Playoff Update 2

Cambridge, MA- Harvard dominated the first and third periods against the St. Lawrence Saints, putting up four goals in each frame to make it an 8-3 final score. After a 4-0 first period, Harvard seemed like they were going to run away with it, but St. Lawrence would score three, including two from Vanessa Emond to make it 4-3 heading into the last period. Kate Buesser got the home team off to a flying start in the third, completing her hat trick just 15 ticks into the period, while 45 seconds late, Jillian Dempsey netted her first of two. Marissa Gedman sealed the victory with an empty-net goal. Harvard outshot the Saints 38-26 and win the series 2-0. Harvard will host the second-lowest remaining seed in the semifinals on Thursday.

Ithaca, NY- After a close game on Friday night, the Cornell Big Red did their best to prevent RPI from hanging onto the game. Rebecca Johnston scored her first of three about two minutes into the first and the Engineers could only muster two shots on goal. After a goal at the 55 second mark of the second for Cornell, RPI did get on the board to make it 2-1, but it was all Cornell after that as the Big Red scored four straight to finish the game 6-1 victors. RPI never mustered more than 4 shots in a period and finished with 10 in the game. Cornell finished with 39 shots. Cornell wins the series 2-0 and will host the lowest remaining seed on Thursday night.

Hanover, NH- Facing elimination, the Dartmouth Big Green twice rallied from one goal deficits to beat the Clarkson Golden Knights 4-2 and force a decisive Game Three this afternoon. Sasha Nanji scored the game winner as Dartmouth took advantage of their power play, going 3 for 6 with the extra attacker. Shots were 28-26 in favor of the Big Green. Both teams play this afternoon to decide the winner. If Dartmouth wins, they play Harvard. If Clarkson wins, they play Cornell.

Princeton, NJ- After a scoreless first period, Kelly Babstock put the visiting Quinnipiac Bobcats up for good as they shutout the Princeton Tigers 2-0. The Bobcats also swept the playoff series between the two travel partners 2-0. Erica Uden Johansson added the empty net goal to seal the victory. Quinnipiac will be traveling to either Harvard or Cornell Thursday for the semifinals. Victoria Vigilianti made 18 saves to preserve the shutout. Quinnipiac had 25 shots on the night but never more than 9 in a period.

Saturday's Three Stars
1.Rebecca Johnston, Cornell- 3 goals on 11 shots, +2 rating
2. Kate Buesser, Harvard- 3 goals (1 PPG) on 5 shots
3. Victoria Vigilianti, Quinnipiac- 18 saves, Shutout

Crimson Sportstalk Scheduling Change

Crimson Sportstalk brings you all the news and highlights from the 41 varsity sports of Harvard University. Beginning next week, you'll be getting all the same great content, just 15 minutes later. Starting Sunday, March 6, Crimson Sportstalk can be heard on 95.3 FM and at WHRB.org from 1:15 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. This will be our new, permanent time going forward.

UPDATED: Men's Hockey: First Round Schedule

UPDATE- 2/28/11 at 5:12pm Looks like the league showed some mercy on the teams with the longest trips, so the Game 3s for the SLU/Princeton series and Harvard/Clarkson series have been changed to 4pm starts.

12. Colgate at 5. Rensselaer in Troy, NY
Game 1: 7pm
Game 2: 7pm
Game 3: 7pm (if necessary)

11. St. Lawrence at 6. Princeton in Princeton, NJ
Game 1: 7pm
Game 2: 7pm
Game 3: 4pm (if necessary)

10. Harvard at 7. Clarkson in Potsdam, NY
Game 1: 7pm
Game 2: 7pm
Game 3: 4pm (if necessary)

9. Brown at 8. Quinnipiac in Hamden, CT
Game 1: 7pm
Game 2: 7pm
Game 3: 7pm (if necessary)

Men's Hockey: ECAC Playoff Matchups Set

Congratulations are in order to the Union Dutchmen, who closed out the Cleary Cup in style with a decisive 5-0 victory over Princeton. Below are the playoff pairings for the ECAC playoffs. Explanations for tiebreakers at the end. The seedings are backed up by our post from last night which was checked against the CHStats.net possible result page. I'll update (or make a new post) when schedules are released.

Byes
1. Union 17-3-2 (36 points)
2. Yale 17-4-1 (35 points)
3. Dartmouth 12-8-2 (26 points)
t-4. Cornell 11-9-2 (24 points)#

First Round Playoffs
t-4. RPI 11-9-2 (24 points)% vs. 12. Colgate 4-15-3 (11 points) in Troy, NY
Season Series: Split 1-1
@Colgate: 2-1 OT RPI win
@RPI: 2-1 OT Colgate win
RPI Home Record: 12-4-1
RPI Last Five Games: 1-3-1
Colgate Road Record: 2-14-2
Colgate Last Five Games: 2-2-1

t-4. Princeton 11-9-2 (24 points)& vs. 11. St. Lawrence 6-15-1 (13 points)
Season Series: Princeton wins 2-0
@ Princeton: 5-1 Princeton win (December 4)
@ SLU: 5-3 Princeton win (January 28)
Princeton Home Record: 7-6-1
Princeton Last Five Games: 2-3-0
St. Lawrence Road Record: 5-11-3
St. Lawrence Last Five Games: 1-4-0

t-7. Clarkson 9-12-1 (19 points)*  vs. 10. Harvard 7-14-1 (15 points)
Season Series: Split 1-1
@ Clarkson: 3-1 Clarkson win (November 13)
@ Harvard: 3-1 Harvard win (February 25)
Clarkson Home Record: 5-10-2
Clarkson Last Five Game: 2-3-0
Harvard Road Record: 3-11-0
Harvard Last Five Games: 4-1-0

t-7. Quinnipiac 6-9-7 (19 points)^ vs. 9. Brown 8-12-2 (18 points)
Season Series: Series Split 0-0-2
@ Brown 3-3 OT Tie (November 5)
@ Quinnipiac 2-2 OT Tie (February 19)
Quinnipiac Home Record: 8-7-2
Quinnipiac Last Five Games: 0-2-3
Brown Road Record: 4-7-3
Brown Last Five Games: 2-2-1


TIEBREAKER NOTES
#  Cornell, RPI and Princeton are all tied for fourth place with 24 points. Among head to head games with all three teams, Cornell took 6 points of 8, Princeton took 4 of 8, and RPI took 2 of 8. Therefore, Cornell is seeded fourth.

% With Cornell removed, we turn to resolving the tie between RPI and Princeton. The two teams split the head to head record and obviously wins are equal. RPI picked up 8 points of a possible 16 against the top 4 teams. Princeton took only 2 of 16. RPI is seeded 5th.

& See above for how Princeton lost both tiebreakers to Cornell and RPI. They are seeded sixth.

* Clarkson and Quinnipiac are tied for seventh place at 19 points. The two teams split on head to head. The next tiebreaker is league wins. Clarkson has 9 league wins to Quinnipiac's 6, so Clarkson is seeded 7th.

^ See above for why Quinnipiac lost the tiebreaker to Clarkson. As a result, the Bobcats are seeded 8th.

Women's Hockey: Playoff Update 1

Harvard 6 - St. Lawrence 1 (Harvard leads series 1-0)
Cambridge, MA- The Harvard Crimson jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead in the first period and never looked back. Jillian Dempsey scored a minute twenty-eight into the game and the Crimson added a further three goals in a span of six minutes in the first. St. Lawrence's Vanessa Emond scored a late power play goal in the first to get the visitors on the board. After a scoreless second, Jillian Dempsey got on the board a second time to start off the third period scoring. With about five minutes left, the Saints pulled their netminder and Katharine Chute added an empty-net tally. The shot count was about even, 31-30 in favor of Harvard. The Crimson took 10 minor penalties while St. Lawrence took 6 minors.

Dartmouth 1 - Clarkson 4 (Clarkson leads series 1-0)
Hanover, NH- The visiting Clarkson Golden Knights jumped out to an early 3-0 lead over the hosts Dartmouth in the first period, starting off with a power play tally from Brittany Styner. The Knights then made it 4-0 in the second with another power play tally before the hosts got a consolation goal late in the second. Neither team could find the back of the net in the third period. The shots favored Clarkson 26-25. Dartmouth took three minors while Clarkson toon five.

Cornell 3 - RPI 2 (OT) (Cornell leads series 1-0)
Ithaca, NY- After 6-0 and 6-1 losses in the regular season to Cornell, RPI proved that the playoffs truly is a new season by bringing the league champs to the wire. Despite a power play goal from Catherine White giving the Big Red the first lead, RPI responded five minutes later to knot things up at 1. In the second, Kendra Dunlap gave RPI the lead and RPI almost hung on for good, but with seven seconds left, Rebecca Johnston was able to send the game to OT. Just one minute and twenty-eight seconds later, Cornell had quashed the upset bid for good with a game winner from Karlee Overguard. Cornell dominated in shots 37-12. Cornell took four minor penalties while RPI took five minors.

Princeton 1 - Quinnipiac 2 (Quinnipiac leads series 1-0)
Princeton, NJ- A close fought battle between travel partners was decided just moments before overtime as Brittany Lyons put the Bobcats ahead 2-1 with just five seconds to go in regulation. Princeton started the second period off with a bang as Sasha Sherry scoring at the 23 second mark but Quinnipiac tied things up later in the frame. Shots favored Quinnipiac 25-21. Quinnipiac only had one minor penalty while Princeton took three.

Three Stars of the Night:
1. Brittany Styner, Clarkson (1 PPG, 2 A in 4-1 win over Dartmouth)
2. Brittany Lyons, Quinnipiac (GWG, 1 A in 2-1 win over Princeton)
3. Sonia Van der bliek, RPI (34 saves on 37 shots in 3-2 loss to Cornell)

Live Streaming Coverage of Harvard at Yale 2/26 on WHRB.org

Next for the Harvard Crimson (21-4, 10-1 Ivy):

@ the Yale Bulldogs (13-12, 6-5 Ivy)

Where: Payne Whitney Gymnasium, New Haven, Connecticut

When: Saturday, February 26, 6:00 PM (Pregame at 5:45)

Coverage: Streaming live on the "low-bandwidth stream" at WHRB.org

Tune in to WHRB.org to catch another night of live streaming coverage as the Harvard Men's Basketball team takes on the Yale University Bulldogs in their final road contest of the 2010-2011 regular season. Yale is coming off of an overtime thriller against Dartmouth, in which the Bulldogs narrowly downed the Dartmouth Big Green, 79-75. Yale GuardPorter Braswell led the way, notching 19 and helping to secure a 9-1 run to finish overtime and seal the win. Earlier this season, the Yale Bulldogs gave the Crimson a scare by virtue of a narrow 78-75 contest. In that game, Forward Kyle Casey led the way for the Crimson, shooting 8 of 13 from the field for 18 points.

In order to tune in to WHRB's broadcast, visit www.whrb.org. On the left-hand side of the page, click on "In your browser" and then "Low" to start up the low-bandwidth stream. The broadcast will begin at approximately 5:45, with the pregame show. Tipoff is at 6:00.

The neo-gothic exterior of Payne Whitney Gymnasium, home of the Yale Bulldogs

Men's Hockey: Who Can Finish Where?

Well, the long awaited (or dreaded if you're an ECAC media type) is here. The last game before the playoffs. Time to figure out just where everyone will end up. It means calculating the tiebreakers and all of that fun stuff. So here we go. Much thanks to Harvard SID Casey Hart for sending along where every team can finish. I believe (and hope) that I've covered every scenario but if I missed one, feel free to leave a comment or email sports@whrb.org.

EDIT: Looks like I missed a few ties- well, didn't miss but didn't explain what a tie would do. And missed a few others. Now looking at collegehockeystats.net info for the fill-ins. Will italicize what is an edit. (2:33 am)

Union: Currently in 1st place (16-3-2) - CLINCHED BYE
1st place: Union clinches first place with a win. They also clinch first place if they tie and Yale loses or ties. They can also clinch first place if they lose but Yale also loses.
2nd place: Union finishes in second place with a loss and a Yale tie or win (if Yale ties and Union loses, Dartmouth and Princeton are the top four and Yale wins the tiebreaker on record vs. Top 4). They also finish second with a tie and a Yale win (Yale wins tiebreaker on league wins).

Yale: Currently in 2nd place (16-4-1) - CLINCHED BYE
1sr place: Yale will win the Cleary Cup if they get a win and Union ties or loses. They also win the Cleary Cup with a tie and a Union loss.
2nd place: A Union win, if both Union and Yale tie, or if Yale loses, they get second place.

Dartmouth: Currently in 3rd place (12-7-2) - CLINCHED BYE
3rd place: Clinches third place with a win or a tie. They also clinch third if they lose but Cornell does not beat Yale. Even a Princeton win (which would tie them points-wise with Dartmouth if the Big Green lost) is immaterial because Dartmouth holds the tiebreaker.
4th place: Dartmouth will finish fourth if they lose to Clarkson and Cornell beats Yale.

Cornell: Currently in 4th place (11-8-2) - CLINCHED HOME ICE
3rd place: Cornell will move up to third place if they win and Dartmouth loses (Cornell holds the head-to-head tiebreaker).
4th place: Cornell will get the final bye if they win but Dartmouth also wins or ties (Cornell holds the tiebreaker vs. Princeton in record vs. Top 4). If Cornell ties, they need a Princeton tie or loss (Cornell holds the head-to-head tiebreaker vs. RPI). If Cornell loses, they need a Princeton loss and an RPI tie or loss.
5th place: If Cornell loses and RPI wins and Princeton loses, Cornell will be 5th place. If Cornell loses and Princeton wins or ties, Cornell will be 5th place with a tie or loss by RPI.
6th place: If Cornell loses and RPI and Princeton both win (or if Princeton ties), Cornell will be 6th place.

Princeton: Currently in 5th place (11-8-2) - CLINCHED HOME ICE
4th place: Princeton will jump up to the last bye spot with a win and a Cornell loss or tie. They also move up to 4th with a tie, a Cornell loss and an RPI loss or tie.
5th place: Princeton will take 5th place with a win and a Cornell win. They also take 5th place if they tie and Cornell wins or ties and RPI ties or loses OR if Cornell loses but RPI wins. Finally, they can take 5th with a loss and an RPI loss.
6th place: Princeton will drop to 6th place with a loss and an RPI tie or win.They will also be sixth with a tie, a Cornell win or tie, and an RPI win.

RPI: Currently in 6th place (11-9-1) - CLINCHED HOME ICE
4th place: RPI takes the last bye spot with a win and a Cornell loss plus a Princeton tie or loss.
5th place: 'Tute claims 5th place with a win and a Cornell win or tie plus a Princeton tie or loss OR a Princeton win and a Cornell loss. Can also take 5th place with a tie and a Princeton loss.
6th place: The Engineers take 6th place with a loss. They also finish in 6th with wins by both Cornell (or a tie by Cornell) and Princeton regardless of own result. A tie plus a Princeton win or tie also results in a 6th place finish.

Still with me? Congrats, because I barely am. Bottom six teams below the jump.

First-Place Crimson Travel to Brown

Next for Harvard Basketball:

@ Brown
Where: Pizzitola Sports Complex, Providence, RI
When: 7pm tonight
Coverage: WHRB.org low-bandwith stream

The Harvard Crimson head to Providence tonight hoping to avoid the same fate that befell the Princeton Tigers last Friday, who lost to Brown 75-65 at Pizzitola. If Harvard wins its next four, it is in the NCAA tournament, but a tough road remains. Tonight's game will be available online on the "low-bandwith" stream on whrb.org, with WHRB's Scott Reed and Charlie Hobbs on the call.

Men's Hockey: If the ECAC Playoffs Started Today 4

A quick Friday update as the men's season draws to a conclusion. First- there are a ton of people doing excellent ECAC work (including figuring out every tiebreaker imaginable) all around the internet. Here's a great thread on USCHO that will be updated sometime after tonight's game with the most information. And of course, check the usual suspects (many in our blog roll) of ECAC writers and bloggers, including Brian Sullivan on USCHO, Without a Peer, ELynah, etc. etc. besides checking back in with us.

As for playoff calculators, this one from Sioux Sports and this one from The Big Red What? are two to keep in mind.

With all that out of the way, I'm going to keep it simple for today and just look at what the playoff matchups will look like if they end today (as well as the range where teams can finish.) Check back later as their may be a late night post that's more detailed involving tiebreakers and the like. (Feel free to send corrections if my math is wrong...this was a hurried post put together using the playoff calculators above.)

Anyway, moving on...
Byes
1. Union (24-7-3, 16-3-1)
The Dutchmen can clinch first place tonight with a win and a Yale loss. They can finish no worse than second.
2. Yale (22-5, 16-4)
The Bulldogs can finish as high as first place and no lower than second.
3. Dartmouth (15-9-3, 11-7-2)
The Big Green can finish as high as third or as low as sixth. A Dartmouth win coupled with a Princeton win over RPI should clinch a bye for the Big Green (Dartmouth holds the tiebreaker over Princeton but loses the tiebreaker to RPI.)
4. Cornell (13-11-3, 11-7-2)
Cornell can finish as high as third place and as low as sixth place. A Cornell win and a Dartmouth loss looks to clinch a by for the Big Red regardless of the result of the RPI-Princeton game. A Cornell win, Dartmouth loss and RPI loss or tie looks like it clinches third place for the Big Red.

First Round
5. RPI (19-9-4, 11-8-1) vs. 12. Colgate (7-23-2, 4-14-2)
RPI: Can finish as high as third and as low as 6th.
Colgate: Can finish as high as ninth or as low as twelfth.

6. Princeton (15-10-2, 10-8-2) vs. 11. Harvard (7-19-1, 5-14-1)
Princeton: Can finish as high as third and as low as 6th.
Harvard: Can finish as high as ninth or as low as twelfth. A weekend sweep and Brown getting one point or less will put Harvard in 9th.

7. Clarkson (14-6-2, 8-11-1) vs. 10. St. Lawrence (10-17-5, 6-13-1)
Clarkson: Can finish as high as seventh or as low as ninth (due to owning the head to head tiebreaker with St. Lawrence, they cannot drop into tenth.) Would clinch home ice with either a win or a Brown loss tonight.
St. Lawrence: Can finish as high as eighth and as low as twelfth. With a win tonight, guarantee they are not in the basement. Need a sweep, need Quinnipiac to get swept and Brown to finish with less than three points this weekend for home ice.

8. Quinnipiac (13-13-6, 6-9-5) vs. 9. Brown (8-14-5, 6-12-2)
Quinnipiac: Can finish as high as seventh or as low as tenth (St. Lawrence holds the head to head tiebreaker over the Bobcats). Also...would it kill the league to use their own tiebreaking procedures on the standings page of the league website (they currently have Quinnipiac in seventh, despite the QPac/Clarkson tie going in Clarkson's favor due to number of league wins.)
Brown: Can finish as high as seventh or as low as twelfth. Clinches being out of the basement with any form of points tonight.

Announcing live coverage of Harvard at Brown on Friday 2/25

This Friday, February 25th, WHRB will be providing live, internet-only coverage of Harvard Men's Basketball as they travel to Providence, Rhode Island to take on the Brown Bears. Streaming coverage of the game will be available live on WHRB's website, www.whrb.org, via the "low-bandwidth" stream. In order to listen in, go to www.whrb.org, and on the top-left hand side of the home page, click on "In Your Browser" under "Listen Here", and then on "Low". Flash is required to tune in.

WHRB's regularly-scheduled coverage of the Harvard Men's Hockey game versus Clarkson will be available on the "high-bandwidth" stream on WHRB's website and on 95.3 FM throughout the Boston metropolitan area.

Check back to the WHRB Sports Blog for details about WHRB's coverage of Saturday's Men's Basketball game against the Yale Bulldogs.

The Pizzitola Sports Center is the home of the Brown Bears Men's and Women's Basketball teams.

Harvard Getting First-Place Pub

Fresh off of their weekend road sweep of Cornell and Columbia which finished with Harvard in a tie for first place (thanks to a Princeotn loss to Brown), the Crimson are seeing some positive press. Following the Columbia win, Harvard basketball was on the front page of ESPN.com's basketball section (image here).

Joe Lunardi of ESPN's "Bracketology" predicts Harvard to be in the field of 68 as a 14-seed facing 3-seed Georgetown in Charlotte, North Carolina in the first round. Meanwhile, Andy Glockner of Sports Illustrated's "Bracket Watch" has the Crimson as a 13-seed facing 4-seed Vanderbilit in Denver, Colorado.

In the rankings, Harvard continues to receive a vote in the Associated Press Top 25. The Crimson's RPI rating is #41, just behind Michigan State and just ahead of Illinois. Here's how all eight Ivy League teams stack up in the RPI:

#40 Harvard Crimson
#54 Princeton Tigers
...and a big drop off to
#165 Yale Bulldogs
#168 Penn Quakers
#174 Columbia Lions
#218 Brown Bears
#244 Cornell Big Red
#297 Dartmouth Big Green.


The KenPom ratings are less kind to the Crimson, as they have Harvard at #80, behind N.C. State and ahead of Providence. Here are the Ivy League teams in the KenPom rankings:

#80 Harvard Crimson
#102 Princeton Tigers
#169 Penn Quakers
#181 Yale Bulldogs
#203 Cornell Big Red
#229 Columbia Lions
#240 Brown Bears
#302 Dartmouth Big Green



Link to ESPN's Bracketology
Link to Sports Illustrated's Bracket Watch

The Experience: Harvard at Lynah Rink

The basis of this post is 1) that I got a Flipcam for Christmas and 2) while at Lynah Rink, I knew someone who would be sitting in Section O (visiting section, across from the Cornell student section) for the Harvard-Cornell game. So here are a few of the videos from that. Except for the first video, none of this is only for when Harvard comes to town but since the intensity is always up for Harvard-Cornell, seemed like a good time for these videos. Note that they are NSFW.

Harvard is greeted by a wall of fish for the introduction, an attack on New England's maritime roots that was a response to Harvard fans use of chickens to taunt Cornell's Agricultural School. Cornell eventually received a bench minor for items thrown on the ice in the third period, immediately following their third goal. 

During the introductions for the starters, the Cornell fans pretend to be reading the Cornell Daily Sun and scream "BOR-ING" while the other team is being introduced.

At the start of the 3rd period in every game, the Cornell band begin playing Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Anthem, Part II" and the fans do the choreographed dance to it while telling opposing goaltenders he is a sieve. Here, Ryan Carroll gets that treatment. Carroll led the Crimson to a 4-3 win over Mike Garman and the Big Red.

Women's Hockey: ECAC Playoffs Set

Below is the schedule for the women's hockey playoffs and a quick glance at the season series and home and road records of the teams involved.

1. Cornell (26-2-1, 20-1-1) vs. 8. RPI (10-16-7, 8-12-2) in Ithaca, NY
Game 1: 7pm
Game 2: 4pm
Game 3: 4pm (if necessary)
Cornell at Home: 15-1
RPI on Road: 5-11-1
Season Series: Cornell 2-0
@ RPI: 6-1 Cornell Win
@ Cornell: 6-0 Cornell Win


2. Harvard (15-10-4, 14-5-3) vs. 7. St. Lawrence (16-16-2, 11-11) in Cambridge, MA
Game 1: 4pm
Game 2: 3pm
Game 3: 3pm (if necessary)
Harvard at Home: 8-3-1
St. Lawrence on Road: 9-8-1
Season Series: Harvard 2-0
@ Harvard: 2-1 Harvard Win
@ St. Lawrence: 3-2 OT Harvard Win

3. Dartmouth (19-9, 15-7) vs. 6. Clarkson (13-15-6, 10-8-4) in Hanover, NH
Game 1: 3:30pm
Game 2: 2pm
Game 3: 2pm (if necessary)
Dartmouth at Home: 10-4
Clarkson on Road: 7-9-1
Season Series: Split 1-1
@ Dartmouth: 3-2 OT Clarkson Win
@ Clarkson: 3-1 Dartmouth Win

4. Princeton (16-12-1, 13-8-1) vs. 5. Quinnipiac (20-11-3, 12-9-1) in Princeton, NJ
Game 1: 7pm
Game 2: 4pm
Game 3: 4pm (if necessary)
Princeton at Home: 9-4-1
Quinnipiac on Road: 9-7-1
Season Series: Split 1-1
@ Quinnipiac: 5-2 Quinnipiac Win
@ Princeton: 3-0 Princeton Win

Men's Hockey: If the ECAC Playoffs Started Today 3

Alright, so usually we do this on Friday before a weekend series of games but the drive to Ithaca prevented that. And since it seems odd to move back in time, let's look at what the playoffs would look like if they started today.

Byes:
1. Union (23-7-3, 15-3-1)
2. Yale (21-5, 15-4)
I just want to separate the top two teams here in the bye category to point out Union and Yale have clinched not only byes but have clinched finishing either first or second as well.
3. Dartmouth (15-8-3, 11-6-2)
4. Princeton (15-9-2, 10-7-2)

5. Cornell (12-11-3, 10-7-2) vs. 12. Colgate (6-23-2, 3-14-2)
Right now, Colgate gets the short trip to Ithaca thanks to Princeton holding the tiebreaker over the Big Red for the last bye spot. There's a lot of volatility on both sides of this equation but as a fan, who isn't hoping for a Cornell-Colgate rivalry playoff series?

6. RPI (18-9-4, 10-8-1) vs. 11. Harvard (6-18-1, 4-13-1)
Again, a lot of volatility here but for Harvard, this is an attractive matchup and preferable to the other teams (Dartmouth, Cornell, Princeton, Clarkson) buzzing around sixth in terms of competitiveness and/or travel. Crimson have played well against the 'Tute all season, winning 1-0 at home and losing 3-2 against RPI despite mustering 48 shots (with two RPI goals coming from Harvard miscues on one 4x4 shift.)

7. Clarkson (14-15-2, 8-10-1) vs. 10. St. Lawrence (6-12-1)
Yet another fun rivalry matchup, and better yet, a rematch of last year's playoffs to boot. These two teams met last year with St. Lawrence hosting as the fifth seed and Clarkson as the twelfth. Now a win and a Brown loss tonight would give Clarkson guaranteed home ice. Is it too much to ask for these two teams to stay paired up together?

8. Quinnipiac (13-13-5, 8-9-4) vs. 13. Brown (8-13-4, 6-11-1)
These two teams square off tonight and it might just determine which of the two of them (or St. Lawrence) ends up with the last home ice spot. This is a game to keep an eye on tonight.

Women's Hockey: If the ECAC Playoffs Started Today 3

There's only one weekend left for the ECAC women's hockey league and there's still plenty of teams still in the race for the final playoff spots. Could be a crazy weekend so we'll take a look at the matchups but also how high a team can finish.

1. Cornell (25-1-1, 19-0-1) vs. 8. RPI (10-14-7, 8-10-2)
Cornell: Well, they've clinched first place so not much to say here...moving on.
RPI: RPI is in an absolute dogfight for the last spot in the playoffs, tied with St. Lawrence (the Saints have more wins) and matching Colgate's record exactly. RPI split with Colgate and wins are equal, so the next relevant tiebreaker is record vs. the top 4. They are 0-2 vs. Cornell, 1-1 vs. Harvard, 1-1 vs. Dartmouth and 1-1 vs. Quinnipiac (3-5). If Princeton moves in to the top four, they will fall to 2-6 in this measure. Engineers have home games against Clarkson as well as finishing up Saturday vs. St. Lawrence.

2. Harvard (14-9-4, 13-4-3) vs. 7. St. Lawrence (14-16-2, 9-11)
Harvard: The Crimson are up three on Dartmouth for second place, so a win Friday vs. Colgate will guarantee the Crimson home ice until the semifinals (if they were to advance that far.) Essentially, Harvard needs to match Dartmouth's points on Friday night to seal this position.
St. Lawrence: The Saints are tied in points with both RPI and Colgate but break the three way tie through having 9 wins to both those teams' eight. St. Lawrence is 0-1 against RPI, who they face Saturday on the road, but are 2-0 vs. Colgate so they hold that tiebreaker.

3. Dartmouth (17-9, 13-7) vs. 6. Clarkson (11-15-6, 8-8-4)
Dartmouth: The Big Green have a chance to finish as high as second if they can make up the three point deficit against the Crimson but they also have a chance to slip as far as fifth with Quinnipiac only two points away and Princeton three points away. Dartmouth also has a tough schedule with Cornell in town Friday night and then a Colgate team fighting for a playoff spot on Saturday.
Clarkson: The Golden Knights are out of the battle for home ice as they trail Quinnipiac by four for fourth place but lose on the second tiebreaker (league wins) as the Bobcats have 12 wins and the most Clarkson could have is 10. Clarkson also is not assured of a playoff spot with Colgate two points behind and Yale four points behind, though they could clinch by Friday with a win and some help from Harvard.

4. Quinnipiac (20-10-2, 12-8) vs. 5. Princeton (14-12-1, 11-8-1)
Quinnipiac: The Bobcats can finish as high as third or as low as fifth, thanks to trailing Dartmouth by two and leading sixth placed Clarkson by four with the tiebreaker. Home ice will be determined by how many points they get compared to travel partner Princeton. Both teams face Yale and Brown on the road.
Princeton: The Tigers can also move up to third place but can fall as far as sixth. Third requires some help against Dartmouth from Cornell and Colgate while a Clarkson sweep could also drop the Tigers. As said just above, the most likely battle will be which of the travel partners gets home ice, Quinnipiac or Princeton. It comes down to who gets the most points this weekend. At the moment, Quinnipiac holds the win tiebreaker but were the Bobcats to go 0-0-2 and Tigers to go to 1-0-1, it would go to the next tiebreaker and Princeton is 1-4-1 as opposed to the Bobcats at 2-4, so Princeton cannot tie Quinnipiac and move up to fourth (assuming Dartmouth doesn't drop.)

On the Fence
9. Colgate (11-17-3, 8-10-2)
The Raiders are tied in points and wins with RPI and the season series is also tied. Colgate's record is at 1-5 vs. the top 4 with a chance to move to 3-5 with a weekend sweep. Assuming the top four don't change, that would tie them with RPI for that tiebreaker, bringing it to record vs. the top 8. They are 1-1 vs. Princeton so they would benefit from the Tigers moving into the top 4 as it would not change their record but would drop RPI's.

10. Yale (8-16-3, 7-11-2)
The Bulldogs are only two points out of a playoff spot so they could move up as far as a tie for sixth (they are split 1-1 with Clarkson) but if they caught the Golden Knights in points with two wins (the only way), Yale would necessarily have more wins than Clarkson. That would mean RPI beating Clarkson (also making RPI have twenty points) and thus St. Lawrence would need to beat RPI, though lose to Union (and that would put all four teams at 20 points) so that's a fun possible tangle that I will admittedly be lazy and avoid trying to solve.

And Finally...
11. Brown (2-22-3, 1-16-3) and 12. Union (2-27-3, 1-17-2)
Not much more to say...spoiler possibilities abound though.

Harvard Gets Elusive Beanpot Win

Peter Starrett (left, 14) celebrates his first collegiate point while teammate Danny Biega (center) celebrates his game tying goal in the 3rd period of the Beanpot consolation game. Photo courtesy of the Harvard Department of Athletics.

In years past, the consolation game of the Beanpot used to be a chance to test out the kids coming up through the ranks. Tales of the JV squad taking to the early game abound in Beanpot legend but JV has given way to club hockey (complete with its own club Beanpot) so the practice is no longer continued. Still, Ted Donato would have been forgiven if, in a not tremendously important nonconference game in front of friends and family at the TD Garden, he had gone with a youth movement and let players like John Caldwell, Dan Fick and Raphael Girard see the ice. The starting line-up, though, showed that would not be the tactic, as Donato mixed his starters to trot out a mostly senior starting line-up. Among the first six for the Crimson, it was the two co-captains, Michael Del Mauro and Chris Huxley, as well as P.O. Michaud and Michael Biega, with Ryan Carroll tending the net. The lone non-senior was underused Peter Starrett, with the junior making just his 17th appearance for the Crimson. It was clear that instead of a youth movement, Donato wanted to give his seniors one last chance for a Beanpot win. That decision ultimately delivered.

Head below the jump for more

Crimson Show Youth in First Half, Maturity in Second

by Scott Reed

WHRB Sports

My Opinion

Cambridge, MA - It was the worst half of the Harvard season to date, a half riddled with turnovers, defensive miscues, and lights-out shooting by the opponent. The dismalness of the half was rivaled only by that of the first frame of the Crimson's blowout defeat against the UConn Huskies. Connecticut has since proven to be one of the nation's best ten teams, however, while Saturday's opponent, the Brown Bears (9-13, 2-6 Ivy), were near the bottom of the Ivy League.

The first half Saturday was ghastly for the Crimson: Brown shot 63% from the field including 8 for 12 behind the three point line, and Harvard (18-4, 7-1 Ivy) committed a dozen turnovers. Harvard's frustration was apparent with the grimaces on each Crimson player's face following every made Brown basket, each more incredible than the last. The Crimson looked lost on offense, with those twelve turnovers, although they would end up shooting 46% for the half.

Perhaps it was the young, senior-less Harvard team's inability to move on from the previous night's exciting victory over Yale that led to the poor first half performance (Harvard did indeed seem sluggish at the start), or perhaps the Bears had the shooting half of their lives. A modest Brown lead quickly snowballed into a 24-point edge, aided in part by the on-court Crimson frustration. Whatever the cause of Harvard's first half malaise, the Crimson went into the locker room faced with the sobering prospect of losing a league game at home to a team well below their own talent level.

"We knew what we had to do," said Kyle Casey, whose 15-footer cut the deficit to a measly 22 points just before the first-half buzzer, in a postgame interview. "We didn't panic." Indeed they did not, at least not once the second half started. If the first half was evidence of Harvard's youth, the second was a testament to its resolve, the same resolve seen in last week's win at Penn. The Crimson outscored Brown 54-25 in the second half, including one 46-14 run, and were able to escape the night without picking up a deadly second Ivy loss. The game was won in the first eight minutes of the second half, in which Harvard cut the 22 point halftime deficit down to four. From then on, it was a matter of simply outplaying a team well below the Crimson's caliber.

So what does this mean going forward? The first half was a sobering reminder that with a team this young, no game may be chalked up as an automatic win. Yet, as it has done in its last three games, Harvard emerged victorious. Playing at home certainly helped (the Crimson moved to a program best 12-0 at Lavietes Pavilion), and 22 point halftime deficits are of course much tougher to overcome on the road.

Still, though, the Crimson avoided total disaster Saturday, and that is something. Harvard will play in many more games of consequence this season, as the Ivy race with Princeton seems headed to the wire. On an ordinary evening, many Crimson faithful might have shaken their head on hearing of the Tigers' narrow win over Cornell. But they had just witnessed their own team avoiding disaster at home. And for tonight, that was enough.

Women's Hockey: If the ECAC Playoffs Started Today 2

With the look at the men done, it's time to take a look at the women's side of things to see what the playoffs will look like as they come in just a couple of weekends. Note- this does not include the early games from today because a) they are still in progress as I start writing this and b) I can just incorporate them into next week's post.

Round One Matchups:
1. Cornell (23-1-1, 17-0-1) vs. 8. St. Lawrence (13-14-2, 8-9)
So despite the "upset" of Cornell at the hands of Clarkson, a 3-3 tie ruining the Big Red's perfect league stretch, there is good news in Ithaca. The three points on the weekend clinched them the regular season championship. For the Saints, they are currently fighting for that last playoff spot and are two points ahead of Yale. If they secure it, they could be a threat to the Big Red. The Saints, 7-8-1 on the road, lost the season series 0-2 to Cornell, but the road game was only a 3-1 loss and the home loss was 2-1.

2. Harvard (13-8-3, 12-4-2) vs. 7. RPI (10-12-7, 8-8-2)
Harvard turns its focus back this weekend to ECAC play but first, some congratulations are in order to the Crimson as well. Despite being down 3-0 to Northeastern on Tuesday night, Harvard rallied to force OT and then won in the shootout to keep their Beanpot title defense chance alive, as they'll face BC in the championship. With that out of the way, this is a big weekend for Harvard. While they cannot be first anymore, having home ice all the way through to the semifinals (7-2-1 at home, 6-6-1 away, 0-0-1 neutral) would be huge for Harvard and depending on how Dartmouth and Quinnipiac do, they can clinch second. They are also the only team besides Cornell to clinch a playoff spot. On the other side of the matchup, as we said last week, RPI has been a bit of a bogey team for the Crimson and the 'Tute will remember knocking Harvard out of the semis at the Bright if this series comes to pass. RPI has to avoid slumping though- they snapped a 4 game losing streak (13 goals against, 1 for) with a win and a tie at home last weekend. Also of note, the first game of that losing streak, a 2-1 loss at Harvard, the closest game of the four.

3. Dartmouth (15-9, 11-7) vs. 6. Princeton (12-12-1, 9-8-1)
This is a nice Ivy League matchup, the only one of the four playoff series (were they to end today) and it could be a great or terrible matchup depending on what Tigers team shows up. At home, Princeton brought Dartmouth to the wire, falling 3-2 in OT, but then they were massacred last weekend in Hanover by a score of 7-0. It was a surprising game, particularly since Princeton had just beaten Harvard 3-2 the night before, so the blow out was probably an anomaly. It'll certainly be remembered by the Tigers, most likely for motivation, if this series comes to pass.

4. Quinnipiac (18-10-2, 10-8) vs. 5. Clarkson (11-13-5, 8-6-3)
These two teams are evenly matched, with only a point separating the two of them and Clarkson holding a game in hand. Both teams won on the road against the other, Quinnipiac winning 3-2 at Clarkson and the Golden Knights winning 3-2 in OT in Hamden. All four playoff series look to be even affairs but this one might be the best slugfest of them all.

Outside Looking In
9. Yale (7-14-3, 6-9-2) and 10. Colgate (9-17-3, 6-10-2)
Usually I try to separate the two teams looking in but both teams are not only tied in points (with Elis holding a game in hand) but they also play tonight in a huge game. It's a big game for Yale in terms of staying ahead of Colgate and potentially catching St. Lawrence, especially with a tough road game at Cornell tomorrow. It is also big for Colgate- while both teams have Brown left on their schedule, Colgate gets a road trip to Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend while Yale gets to host Quinnipiac and Princeton, so the advantage in the schedule favors Yale at the moment. A game to keep an eye on tonight.

Officially Eliminated
11. Brown (2-19-3, 1-13-3)
Brown was barely hanging onto playoff hopes as it was last week. Being swept by RPI and previously winless Union got rid of any such hope. Trailing the last playoff spot by 11 points with only 5 games (and thus 10 points) remaining means the Bears can only play spoiler to Yale and Colgate's playoff chances.
12. Union (2-25-3, 1-15-2)
Union got its first win last weekend against Brown. Not much more to add as Union was already eliminated last week and I don't want to keep harping on it.

Men's Hockey: If the ECAC Playoffs Started Today 2

With another weekend on tap, it's time to once again look at what the ECAC playoffs will look like if they started today. (For a more mathematical look of where the team's could still finish, check out Brian Sullivan on USCHO.)

The Byes:
1. Yale (19-4, 13-3)
2. Union (20-7-3, 12-3-1)
3. RPI (18-6-4, 10-5-1)
4. Dartmouth (13-7-3, 9-5-2)

As you can see, a little bit of movement here in the byes. Top two stay the same but RPI moves up a spot and Dartmouth knocks out Princeton. Sets up a big game on Saturday between the Big Green and Tigers in Hanover.

The First Round Matchups
5. Cornell (11-9-3, 9-5-2) vs. 12. Colgate (4-22-2, 1-13-2)
Cornell has really been coming on strong in the last few weeks and is tied with Dartmouth for that last bye spot. Still, there's something fun about rivalries in the playoffs, especially since records get thrown out in both the playoffs and rivalry games. And Colgate would be thrilled to throw away their record. This would be a fun one to see, especially for both sets of fans.

6. Princeton (14-8-1, 9-6-1) vs. 11. Harvard (4-18, 3-13)
Another rivalry, this time an Ivy rivalry, and a rematch of last year's opening round playoffs to boot. Harvard fans would probably be happy with this as they remember Harvard's sweep of the Tigers in last year's opening round, not to mention, as the WSJ pointed out today, it's not the liveliest home crowd and as Brian Sullivan showed on USCHO, Princeton isn't always the best at winning there. That said, these are not the same two teams from last year, particularly Princeton, a team in bye contention. Could be that tonight's game is a preview of a playoff matchup. This almost certainly though would not be the Princeton/Harvard game being focused on during that weekend by either campus. In fact, it could be the third most important game/series between the two schools that first weekend of March, setting up a fun Crimson/Tigers rivalry weekend.

7. Quinnipiac (13-11-5, 6-7-4) vs. 10. St. Lawrence (8-14-5, 4-10-1)
One of the two first round matchups unchanged from last week's look, there's some history between these two sides. Could be the best chance of an upset among the three series looked at so far. St. Lawrence beat Quinnipiac 6-4 on the road and the Bobcats managed a tie up in Canton.

8. Clarkson (12-13-2, 6-8-1) vs. 9. Brown (7-11-4, 5-9-1)
Well these two teams meet tonight and the media in Potsdam is looking at this as a playoff like game. A Brown win will split the season series and put the two teams tied at points while Clarkson could nab the tiebreaker with a win or tie tonight and put them ahead of the Bears with Bruno needing help to get home ice for this encounter. Should be one to watch tonight.

Harvard Women's Hockey Advances to Beanpot Final

For the second time in as many games, the No. 10 Harvard Women's Hockey team (13-8-3, 12-4-2 ECAC) came from behind to defeat the unranked Northeastern Huskies (14-9-6, 6-7-4 Hockey East) 2-1 in a shootout, after ending regulatoin and a 5-minute overtime period tied 3-3. The Crimson looked sluggish throughout the first period, allowing 13 shots and 2 goals by the Huskies, compared to the Crimson's 9 shots (and 0 goals). Errant passing and poor puck-handling also plagued the Crimson through the opening frame.

Starting in the second period, however, the Crimson begam to fight their way back. After digging themselves into a 3-0 hole, Harvard did not allow the Huskies another shot in the second, and--thanks to a laser from senior co-captain Kate Buesser--responded with a goal of their own. But despite a 10-1 Harvard advantage in shots during the period, Huskies' netminder Leah Sulyma continued to look virtually impregnable.

But in the 55th minute, everything fell apart for the Northeastern Huskies. The Crimson struck twice in quick succession--58 seconds, to be precise--on shots from senior forward Ashley Wheeler and freshman defender Marissa Gedman. After an inconclusive 5-minute overtime, the Crimson sealed the comeback with a pair of shootout goals from sophomores Jillian Dempsey and Josephine Pucci. Crimson goalie Laura Bellamy saved three of four in the shootout. Overall, Harvard held a 35-18 advantage in shots--and allowed only 5 in the second and third periods combined.

Next Tuesday at 8 PM, the Harvard Crimson will face the Boston College Eagles at Conte Forum, BC's home arena, for the Beanpot Championship. The No. 7 ranked Eagles unseated the No. 3 BU Terriers 2-1 to advance, despite being outshot 34-14. Bryan Dummire and Charlie Hobbs will have the call of the championship game live on WHRB, beginning at 7:45 with the pregame.

Football Notes: Harvard Adds New D-Line Coach

Image courtesy of GoBlackBears.com

The Harvard Department of Athletics has announced the addition of Maine Defensive Line Coach Dwayne Wilmot to the Crimson coaching staff, where he will serve in the same capacity. Wilmot Wilmot adds a recruiting boost as well, as he was also the Black Bears' recruiting coordinator, and will be responsible for Harvard recruiting in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado.

Wilmot's Maine bio is here: http://www.goblackbears.com/sports/m-footbl/coaches/WILMOT_DWAYNE

The Harvard press release is here: http://gocrimson.com/sports/fball/2011-12/releases/110208_Wilmot_Announcement

My Opinion: Harvard Shows Resolve in Double-OT Win

By Scott Reed

WHRB Sports

Philadelphia, PA - The scoreboard lights at the Palestra had barely been extinguished, erasing the evidence of Harvard's 83-82 triumph over the Penn Quakers, when Harvard basketball coach Tommy Amaker reflected on the wild, wild finish.

"It was a game in which either team could have come out on top," said Amaker. Any member of the raucous crowd of 6,283 would surely agree, but the Crimson were the ones who made the deciding plays, and as close as the razor was between victory and defeat, that says something about this team.

There were many times this team could have folded. They could have folded after Penn had completed its monster comeback to send the game into overtime. They could have given up when Zac Rosen beat the buzzer to force a second overtime ("Its like your heart gets ripped out," said Junior Co-Captain Oliver McNally of Rosen's dagger). They could have given up after the Quakers jumped out to a five point lead minutes into that double-OT. They could have even called it quits for the weekend after a heartbreaking loss to Princeton the night before. But they didn't. And thats the point.

This is a young but talented Harvard team, quite possibly the most gifted of any of the 100 Harvard basketball squads to date. Yet for all of the progress Amaker has made at Harvard, his teams had yet to close out a matchup against the elite of the Ivy League in a game that had championship implications. Last year, for example, in the program's then-biggest game, Harvard was shellacked by more than 30 points at Cornell. They later lost to both Princeton and Cornell at home in games that went down to the wire. And they had fallen this past Friday to Princeton, in the first contest against the top half of the Ivy League (Cornell has since proven a tougher rebuilding job than was first thought).

Some might say the matchup with Princeton was the bigger game of the weekend, but the game Saturday night in the Palestra was a game championship teams have to win: on the road, the night after a loss, against a hostile crowd, and after giving up a big lead. And Harvard came through tonight in a way it hadn't before, which opens the door to new possibilities as the season progresses. The Crimson now know they can come through in the clutch in a conference game, and that is itself significant, something that could make this game echo well into March.

Granted, this team has a long way to go, especially after falling to Princeton on Friday to fall behind the Tigers in the Ivy standings. Next week's matchup with Yale looms large. And there are surely things to dislike if you are a member of the Harvard coaching staff. Losing an eighteen point lead is one of them, and Harvard's usually-automatic free throw shooting faltered a bit down the stretch. But the greater significance is that the Crimson were able to overcome those mistakes and still win.

"We were fortunate enough to bounce back [tonight]," said Amaker. Not just fortunate enough, Coach. Tough enough.

Scott Reed is the play-by-play commentator for Harvard football and men's basketball.

Harvard Looks to Rebound Tonight After Close Loss to Tigers

Next for Harvard (14-5, 4-1 Ivy):

@ University of Pennsylvania (9-8, 3-0 Ivy)

When: Saturday, February 5th at 7pm

Where: The Palestra, Philadelphia, PA

Coverage: WHRB 95.3 FM in the Greater Boston Area, and streaming worldwide at www.whrb.org

Last night, the Harvard Crimson suffered a tough-fought loss to the Princeton Tigers. Despite jumping out to an early 12-2 lead, the Crimson were unable to maintain their momentum throughout. Key to the Tigers 65-61 victory was a 9-0 run coming out of the locker room after the first half. Harvard Keith Wright led the Crimson with 16 points and 11 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season. But both Wright and fellow big-man Kyle Casey were, to some extent, limited by foul trouble--although neither fouled out, each had accrued four violations by the halfway mark in the second half. The Crimson also struggled from long range, going only 3-16 (18.8%) from beyond the arc.

Tonight, the Cantabs need to rebound quickly against the University of Pennsylvania if they want to keep their Ivy League destiny in their own hands. A win against the Quakers would leave Princeton as the only undefeated team in the Ivy League, and tie Harvard with Penn for second place in the league. But the Quakers, a difficult start to the season notwithstanding, are coming off of their most lopsided division win since 2006 after dismantling the Dartmouth Big Green last night 78-47. Tyler Bernardini was 4-4 from the floor and led with 21 points, while Jack Eggleston notched his second-straight double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds). As a team, the Quakers shot an astonishing 62.5% from the floor, and also out-rebounded Dartmouth 34-18.

Big Night in Princeton: Harvard Battles Tigers for First Place

Next for Harvard:

@ Princeton

When: Friday, February 4th at 7pm

Where: Jadwin Gymnasium, Princeton, NJ.

Coverage: Free live streaming on GoCrimson.com, link here. WHRB Commentators Scott Reed and Charlie Hobbs will have the call beginning at 6:45pm.

The Crimson heads south tonight hoping to get its first win at Princeton since 1989 and make a major statement in the Ivy League race. Harvard (15-3, 4-0 Ivy), off to its second-best start in school history, has its eyes set on its ultimate goal of its first-ever Ivy title and the NCAA Tournament berth that comes with it. Its toughest conference test may come tonight in the home gym of the team picked in the preseason to win the Ancient Eight.

Princeton (14-4, 2-0 Ivy) has had an impressive 2010-2011 campaign so far. The Tigers had several close calls in the non-Ivy portion of their schedule, defeating Rutgers, Tulsa, and Siena in overtime. Princeton did challenge itself early on, losing in Durham to the then-#1 Duke Blue Devils 97-60, and narrowly falling to #21 UCF 68-62. They have a very balanced offensive attack, with Forwards Ian Hummer and Kareem Maddox and Guard Dan Mavraides all averaging over 13ppg. Of course, Princeton runs the famed offense invented by the school, an attack relying on discipline, control, and backdoor cuts. For the Harvard Crimson to emerge form Jadwin Gym with one of its biggest wins in school history, they will have to be disciplined and patient themselves.

Women's Hockey: If the ECAC Playoffs Started Today 1

The women's season ends in just a few weeks so the playoff battles are starting to get intense. Let's take a look at what they would be like if the season ended tonight.

1. Cornell (22-1, 16-0) vs. 8. St. Lawrence (12-13-2, 7-8)
Let me see if I have this right. There are six league games left for Cornell, meaning twelve possible points. Cornell leads second place Harvard by 8. After this weekend, Cornell and Harvard will only have four league games left, or eight possible points. So that means if Cornell sweeps this weekend and Harvard does not, Cornell can clinch the ECAC Regular Season Championship. Wow. Clarkson, in fifth place, has 7 games (14 points remaining) and trails Cornell by 15 points, so Cornell has also already clinched home ice.
On the other end of the standings, St. Lawrence is holding on to a tenuous lead over Colgate. They are also still in striking range of a home ice series, so lots to play for in Canton.
Cornell leads the season series 1-0 over the Saints thanks to a 3-1 home win and plays them this weekend in what might be a playoff preview.

2. Harvard (12-7-2, 11-3-2) vs. 7. RPI (9-12-6, 7-8-1)
Harvard needs a lot of help (and/or a complete meltdown by Cornell) in order to finish the top of the ECAC but that doesn't mean the Crimson just have the Beanpot to play for. They still have not clinched home ice in the playoffs yet. They could, by this weekend, clinch a playoff spot, with 9th placed Colgate sitting 11 points out with only 12 points up for grabs.
On the other side of the matchup, a team that Crimson fans probably deep down don't want to see. It's hard to forget that this RPI squad sent a talented Harvard squad home on home ice in the ECAC Semifinals two years ago. The Lady 'Tute also have a 4-2-1 record over Harvard in the last three years.
The teams split the season series 1-1, with both teams winning at home by 2-1 scorelines.

3. Dartmouth (14-8, 10-6) vs. 6. Princeton (8-7-1, 11-13-3)
Technically, Dartmouth still has a chance to get first place, but if Cornell gets as much as one point on the weekend, the Big Green will be officially bounced from that competition. The Big Green trail travel partner Harvard by four (the sweep by the Crimson over Dartmouth is currently the difference between the two Ivies.)
Princeton, meanwhile, is only a point behind Quinnipiac for home ice and is tied with Clarkson for points (the Tigers have played one more game.) With Princeton and Quinnipiac visiting Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend, the Tigers could, with a sweep and a Quinnipiac split (beating Dartmouth), see themselves jump from sixth ahead of Dartmouth to third. Of course, Princeton is also only four points away from ninth place Colgate as well.
The Big Green lead the season series 1-0 thanks to a 3-2 OT win at Hobey Baker rink. Both teams meet Saturday afternoon at Dartmouth.

4. Quinnipiac (17-9-1, 9-7) vs. 5. Clarkson (11-13-3, 8-6-1)
Quinnipiac is eliminated from first place but could gain ground in moving on to second place this weekend. A sweep this weekend would put them 1 point behind Harvard for second, and move them to no worse than a tie with Dartmouth. On the other hand, results going the wrong way could see the Bobcats fall out of the top four (and home ice) toward the last few playoff spaces.
Clarkson is in a similar predicament. They are tied with Princeton but have the higher standing due to their game in hand. The Golden Knights get a shot to give Cornell its first loss in league play and then can try to further separate themselves from Colgate on Saturday. They have four straight home games coming up, but they'll have to make good on them, as then they finish with three straight road games, including a trip to big rival St. Lawrence (a game that will be the 3rd in 5 days for Clarkson.)
The two teams split the season 1-1 with the road team winning a 3-2 OT game both times.

On The Fence:
Colgate (9-16-2, 6-9-1)
Colgate trails St. Lawrence by just one point and plays them Friday night on the road. Especially since the Saints have a game in hand (as does Yale right behind Colgate), it feels like a must win for Colgate, even though it's technically not. Should be a fun game to watch on Friday.
Yale (6-14-2, 5-9-1)
The Bulldogs have a chance to get back in the swing of things with their remaining schedule, despite being 3 points behind St. Lawrence for the last playoff spot. On the road at Union and at home vs. Brown are should win games for the Elis. A road visit next week at Colgate will be huge. Hurting Yale's chance are no direct games against St. Lawrence and games remaining at Cornell and vs. Princeton and Quinnipiac. Yale probably wants Colgate to jump ahead of St. Lawrence this weekend, this way the team with the last spot is a team they have a game against.
Brown (2-17-3, 1-11-3)
Technically not eliminated yet. That's the best you can say for Bruno. They trail St. Lawrence by 9 points and have 14 possible points left. If the Saints sweep Colgate and Cornell, Brown will be eliminated from the race. If Colgate sweeps, Brown will be on the absolute brink going into next week. So if you are a Brown fan, cheer for Cornell and Clarkson and for a Saints/Raiders tie. Yale getting swept probably wouldn't hurt either.

Out of Playoff Contention:
Union (1-24-3, 0-14-2)
Union is twelve points out of the last playoff spot with 12 possible points to get. So if St. Lawrence gets at least 1 point this weekend, that means the Dutchwomen cannot catch them for the last playoff spot. If St. Lawrence got 0 points for the weekend and Colgate got two points, that would put the Raiders at 15 points. In that case, even a Union sweep would put the Dutchwomen 9 points behind Colgate for the last spot with only 8 possible points left. And since Colgate and St. Lawrence play each other, there's no way Colgate can get only 1 point on the weekend that results in St. Lawrence getting 0 points. Feel free to double check me on this logic, but I'm pretty sure Union is officially eliminated from the playoffs.

Men's Hockey: If the ECAC Playoffs Started Today 1

I've put off doing this (mostly because I was hoping each team would actually get to an even number of games played) but now that it's February, it's time to look at the ECAC playoffs. I was going to try to balance out the numbers but the only place it makes a substantial difference is Quinnipiac/Clarkson. Clarkson trails Quinnipiac by 2 points with a 2 games in hand advantage but my tiebreaker of choice, points %, is the same for both teams (.500) so I decided to just stick with the standings.

First Round Byes:
Standing: Team (overall, league, points %)
1. Yale (17-4, 11-3, .786)
2. Union (18-7-3, 10-3-1, .750)
3. Princeton (14-6-1, 9-4-1, .689)
4. RPI (17-6-3, 9-5, .643)

First Round Matchups
5. Dartmouth (12-6-3, 8-4-2, .643) vs. 12. Colgate (3-21-2, 0-12-2, .071)
Dartmouth currently leads the season series between the two teams 1-0, a 7-3 home win for the Big Green. The first playoff meeting between the two teams was in the ECAC first round in 1992-93, a 4-3 (2OT) win for Colgate. Three playoff games have gone to multiple OTs, with the longest being a 4OT game won 4-3 by Colgate in 2002-03. Dartmouth holds a 5-2 record over the Raiders in the postseason. Overall, the two teams are tied at 40-40-5 in a series dating back to 1928-29.

6. Cornell (9-9-3, 7-5-2, .571) vs. 11. Harvard (4-16, 3-12, .214)
Cornell currently leads the season series between the two teams 1-0, a 2-1 road win for the Big Red. This would be a rematch of last year's quarterfinals in Ithaca, swept by Cornell with scores of 5-1 and 3-0 in favor of Cornell. The first meeting between the two teams in the playoffs was in the 1969 ECAC Championship game, a 4-2 win for Cornell. Harvard has traveled to Ithaca for a playoff series four times (1990, 1997, 2000 and 2010) and been eliminated in two games all four times. Harvard and Cornell have never met in the opening round under the current format of the ECAC tournament. Cornell holds the playoff series record at 13-7-1 and the overall series record at 69-58-7, with the series dating back to 1910.

7. Quinnipiac (13-10-4, 6-6-3, .500) vs. 10. St. Lawrence (7-13-5, 3-9-1, .269)
St. Lawrence won the regular season series 1-0-1, beating Quinnipiac 6-4 on the road and earning a 2-2 split on home ice. The Bobcats have a young ECAC history and yet they would be facing a somewhat familiar opponent as the two teams have met twice in the Bobcats' five ECAC postseasons. The first meeting was in 2007 when Quinnipiac beat St. Lawrence 4-0 in the ECAC semifinals. The other meeting came in 2009 at St. Lawrence in the quarterfinals and resulted in a Saints sweep by identical 5-3 scorelines. This would be the first time Quinnipiac hosted St. Lawrence. St. Lawrence holds the postseason series record at 2-1 and the overall series record at 7-5-3 in a series dating back to 2000.

8. Clarkson (12-11-2, 6-6-1, .500) vs. 9. Brown (7-10-4, 5-8-1, .393)
Clarkson leads the regular season series 1-0 thanks to a 3-1 win at Brown. Of all the potential matchups, this one has the most lopsided history. The playoff series started in 1963, a 3-1 for Clarkson at home in the ECAC Quarterfinals. Brown's lone win came in Potsdam in the 1973 Quarterfinals, a 6-2 win for Bruno. Every other game in the playoff history has been a Clarkson win. Brown has never hosted Clarkson in the playoffs, with all the meetings coming either in Potsdam or at a neutral site. Clarkson holds a 10-1 record over Brown in the postseason, including a meeting in the 1993 championship game as well as 56-15-6 overall series record that dates back to 1951-52.

Programming Note- Harvard Hockey at Brown Postponed

Due to the inclement weather, Harvard men's hockey game at Brown tomorrow evening has been postponed. WHRB will air classical music during the time the game was scheduled for. The game has been rescheduled for February 22, 2011. We anticipate that we will be able to bring you that game on WHRB on the 22nd.

The next Harvard hockey game on WHRB will be this Friday night when Harvard visits #3 Yale.