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.