NOTEBOOK: Justin Tobe Steps Back in Net

HAMILTON, N.Y.—When Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 elected to start freshman netminder Kyle Richter against powerhouse Boston College last Tuesday, Richter responded by posting a shutout, a performance that earned him a second consecutive start on Friday night against Cornell.

On Saturday, however, the Harvard men’s hockey team returned to its regular rotation in net, with senior Justin Tobe getting the call against Colgate.

While Richter was impressive against the Eagles, collecting 36 saves, he seemed to lose his edge in the final minutes of the matchup with the Big Red. With the Crimson up 2-1 late in the third period, Richter allowed both the equalizer and the gamewinner to slip past him in the game’s final five minutes.

Donato, however, cited a hectic schedule, which saw Harvard play five games over the course of nine nights, as the reason behind Tobe’s return, rather than the loss to the Big Red.

“We knew we were going to give [Richter] one game this weekend and Justin one game,” Donato said. “We just felt that maybe coming off the shutout, and it being our first win, that maybe [Richter] was the guy we should go with on Friday.”

Tobe, in his return to action, played admirably, stopping 18 shots and surrendering just one Raider goal. Known in the past for sometimes straying too far from the crease in pursuit of loose pucks, Tobe managed to stay planted firmly between the pipes.

“He kicked a lot of rebounds out, played the puck well, and didn’t play too aggressive, which has gotten him in trouble in the past,” captain Dylan Reese said. “I thought he was excellent—you couldn’t ask more from a goalie.”

CALLING IT CLOSE

Full-strength chances were a rare commodity for both teams during the game’s early stages. The referees called four first-period penalties on Colgate, including a five-minute major and a game misconduct on Mike Werner, who slammed into junior Jon Pelle along the right boards at 9:25.

The Crimson, for its part, sent two men to the penalty box in the game’s first four minutes en route to four first-period offenses of its own.

“Emotionally and physically, we were a little bit drained coming in,” Donato said. “I think that showed up with a couple of lazy penalties—hooking, holding in the offensive zone, those types of things.”

While the first period included numerous power plays and three separate stretches of 5-on-3 play, both teams’ penalty kills rose to the challenge under the heavy workload. Harvard, in particular, was able to effectively shut down the Raider power play, as the penalty kill held Colgate scoreless and even managed to generate some shorthanded chances.

“They gave us a couple of different looks [on the power play], but they really never changed to adapt to what we were doing,” Reese said, adding, “It just kind of played into our game plan—we had them scouted, we knew what they were going to do.”

FINAL TICKS

Senior Ryan Maki, after playing in Friday night’s game at Cornell, sat out against the Raiders due to an left arm injury. He was replaced in the lineup by sophomore Nick Coskren…The Crimson managed to dodge the challenge of facing goalie Mark Dekanich, a preseason All-ECAC selection, as freshman Charles Long started in net for Colgate instead. It was Long’s second career start…Due to the stringent refereeing on faceoffs, Harvard was forced to send 11 different men to the faceoff circle over the course of the game, with the Raiders utilizing nine different players.

—Staff writer Daniel J. Rubin-Wills can be reached at drubin@fas.harvard.edu.