UPSET OF THE YEAR: Harvard Surprises Eagles in 4-0 Shutout

Sometimes it’s the underdog that has the most bite.

Starting the season with an 0-3 record for the first time since the 1951-52 campaign, the Harvard men’s hockey team looked like no match for the Eagles.

Then-No. 3 Boston College, which would continue on to the NCAA finals, was the clear favorite over the 16th-ranked Crimson.

“We had a pretty bad start to the year,” senior Kevin Du said. “We really wanted to turn the ship around and have a good game to get the season on the right track.”

In addition, the Crimson was still struggling to find a steady netminder, alternating between senior goalie Justin Tobe and freshman Kyle Richter, while BC’s goalie Cory Schneider, who has since been appointed to the 2007 U.S. Men’s National Hockey Team and had a .925 save percentage for the season, was notorious for his strength between the pipes.

But when the crosstown rivals faced off in Harvard’s first nonconference game of the season, the host Crimson stepped up to the challenge, claiming its first victory of the season with a 4-0 shutout over the Eagles at the Bright Hockey Center.

“It was one of the few games of the year in which we played really well the whole 60 minutes,” Du said. “The rest of the year, we would play really well for about 40 minutes or so, and the other 20 we wouldn’t do really well. We all thought after the game it was kind of the turning point of our season.”

Senior Ryan Maki began the Crimson charge with a goal 13:30 into the first frame, sweeping the puck into the net. After gaining a two-man advantage over BC, Du doubled the score two minutes later, boosting Harvard’s lead to 2-0 as it entered the first intermission.

After the break, BC picked up its intensity as it sought to regain the edge against the Crimson, firing 14 shots on goal during the period.

Although Harvard’s offense sparked the early success, the defense is what kept the Crimson on top.

After Tobe gave up three goals in Harvard’s latest contest against St. Lawrence, Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 gave Richter a chance to prove himself in the goal. Holding the Eagles scoreless throughout the game, which included eight man-advantages in BC’s favor, Richter had a performance that was “superb,” Donato said after the game. Richter stropped 36 shots overall, 19 on power plays.

“I think our power plays were one of our strengths through most of the season,” captain Dylan Reese said. “The BC game overall in terms of our goals scored against our special teams was our best.”

The Crimson’s focus was on defense during the second period, but in the final frame, Harvard gave the Eagles a taste of their own medicine, slamming 10 shots at the net. Nearly seven minutes into the third period, junior Alex Meintel finished off the second rebound after Maki and sophomore Brian McCafferty attempted to put it away, hitting the back of the net to give the Crimson a 3-0 lead.

With two minutes left on the clock, Meintel crossed the puck to freshman Alex Biega, who tapped it into the empty net to clinch Harvard’s 4-0 shutout.

“It just gave us a lot of confidence,” Reese said. “I think it turned it around for us a little, but we weren’t able to generate any solid momentum through the rest of the season. We had a hard time overall, but I think that game was really great.”

—Staff writer Courtney D. Skinner can be reached at cskinner@fas.harvard.edu.