Harvard Hockey Heads to Fenway

Harvard's Alex Fallstrom and Union's Kelly Zajac at the faceoff dot during the two teams' 3-3 tie at Messa Rink last Friday. Photo courtesy Noel Roche.

 

Hockey returns where it began for the Harvard Crimson and the Union College Dutchmen as the teams get set to meet outdoors at historic Fenway Park as part of the 2012 Sun Life Frozen Fenway Series. Harvard's program played outdoors from its founding in 1898 through 1910, while Union played outdoors from 1904 until 1949. Harvard rallied twice last week at Messa Rink against Union, first from a 1-0 deficit, followed by erasing a 3-1 deficit in the 3rd period.

Gametime Forecast: There's a chance of precipitation all day (depending on the weather site, between 15 and 40% at various times) but that should hopefully be over with by noon. Last night's rain and any today could be detrimental to the ice surface. Players will also have to deal with the wind - it will be blowing in from the SW at around 25 mph and gusts could get near the 50 mph mark. One forecast has it as 36 degrees F at puck drop (wind chill making it feel like 24 degrees) while another has the low being around 27 degrees. (Information based on a composite from weather.com and NOAA.gov.)

Comeback Kids: Including last weekend, Harvard has trailed in ten contests entering the third period, but has come back to rally in six of those games for either a win or a tie. 

Sweet Home Massachusetts: Harvard returns to the Boston area for the first time since before Thanksgiving, a 7-6 win over New Hampshire that saw the Crimson erase a 4-0 deficit. Harvard has played 7 games on the road in that span, visiting UMass, Princeton, North Dakota, Union, and RPI. In those seven games, the Crimson went 1-1-5, with the lone win coming against Princeton and the lone loss coming in the second game against North Dakota. The Crimson are 2-2-2 in the Bay State and 2-2-1 at home.

Power Surge: Tonight's game will see a showdown of two of the best power plays in the nation. Harvard has the nation's top power play at 34.9% while Union is 5th in the nation at 26.9%. In ECAC play, Harvard is converting on 36.2% of its PPs while Union is converting on 24.4%. Last weekend's game featured four PPGs in a row, two for each team.

Can't Make It?: Here are the particulars for tonight's broadcast.
Game Time: 7pm
Pregame Coverage: 6:45pm
Listen Live: 95.3 WHRB-FM and whrb.org
Broadcasters: Brendan Roche and Anton Khodakov (potentially to be joined in progress by Raafi Alidina)

Rain Plan: If, due to weather, the game is cancelled for tonight, we will try to bring you women's hockey vs. Union College. In the event that the game is cancelled too late for us to change our plans, WHRB will have its regularly scheduled classical music program. 

Harvard Drops from AP Top 25, Stays Ranked in USA Today/Coaches Poll

After a 60-54 loss to Fordham on Tuesday, January 3rd, Harvard has dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for Week 10. The Crimson, who were ranked 22nd in Week 9's AP picks, received only 16 votes in the most recent tally, behind Wisconsin, Alabama, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, New Mexico, and Saint Mary's among others receiving votes.

In the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, however, Harvard remains ranked--barely--in the Top 25, holding on to the 25th spot with 58 votes to Wisconsin's 43. Harvard's RPI, according to CBSSports.com's calculations, has dropped to 46th, although it remains the only Ivy League school with a top 68 RPI. ESPN's Joe Lunardi, in his weekly bracketology, currently has Harvard as a 9 seed playing Illinois in the first round in the East.

WHRB to Cover Harvard at Monmouth Tuesday 1/10

An interior shot of Boylan gym, home of the Monmouth Hawks.

What: Harvard Crimson (13-2, 1-0 Ivy) at Monmouth Hawks (2-13)

Where: Boylan Gym, West Long Branch, New Jersey

When: Tuesday, January 10th at 7:00 PM (Pregame at 6:45)

How: On 95.3 FM WHRB in the greater Boston area, and streaming live worldwide at www.whrb.org.

Harvard Wins Sloppy Ivy Opener as McNally Leads Way

by Scott Reed
WHRB Sports
My Opinion

Cambridge, MA - At its very core, the significance of Harvard's 63-47 win over the Dartmouth Big Green at Lavietes Pavilion was that it was just that - a win. The stated goal for this team is to win their second Ivy title, and Saturday served them well in that regard, as the Crimson are now 1-0 in conference play. Yet, for much of the game Harvard's performance was a tad worrisome, before a big run - sparked by the leadership of senior co-captain Oliver McNally- turned it around.

Unfortunately, for a while against Dartmouth it appeared that the malaise of Tuesday's loss at Fordham had not yet worn off. Although the Crimson jumped out to a 20-11 lead, they only scored three points in the final 7:11, taking a slim 23-22 lead to the locker room. Overall, those final minutes were played pretty sloppily - the Crimson tried and missed a host of three point baskets, Dartmouth ended the first half with eight offensive rebounds, mostly due to hustle.

Perhaps a bit of it could be contributed to the pressure of a conference opener. "I honestly was trying to get our kids to relax...I think that sometimes they can feel like a lot of weight is on their shoulders, especially during conference play, " Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker said of his speech at halftime

What transpired in the second half was first a continuance of the funk the Crimson seemed to have gotten caught in - Dartmouth would grab the lead, leading by six with just over fourteen minutes to play. Then, however, Harvard turned it around, on the strength of a 24-4 run over the next nine minutes, which proved to be the deciding stretch.

That stretch and the resulting good play was welcomed warmly by the Crimson faithful, like an old friend that had not been seen in ages; indeed, other than the period at the end of the second half against Saint Josephs, the Crimson hadn't gone on quite a run in some time. One knew that Harvard would go off at some point - this team is too talented not to - but it was a matter of when it would.

"That's when I thought our kids really dug in and got the stops defensively, and our pace improved," said Amaker of that run. He attributed much of the turnaround to his senior guard, Oliver McNally. The co-captain from San Francisco, who would finish with a game-high seventeen points, initiated the comeback with made baskets and intensity on the defensive end.

Afterwards, Amaker spoke glowingly of McNally: "Oliver is the spirit and leader of our team from a vocal standpoint...I thought he was outstanding [today]." Amaker also hinted that the guard was also vocal in the locker room and in the huddle, and provided praise for his leadership ability. "He's a tremendous leader, he's just wired that way. If he played a position in football, it would be quarterback....Whatever success we've had here during his time, you can contribute a lot of it to him."

The importance of a senior leader like McNally cannot be understated, especially for a team that has the highest of expectations. Things may not all go smoothly in Ivy League play - Harvard's last two games have been evidence that even a great team can play poorly and fall on a given night - and whether the team is able to bounce back from disappointment may determine whether it gets its desired championship. And although it was sloppy Saturday, the Crimson were able to respond to rough stretches and get the win - and that says something about this team and its senior guard.