NOTEBOOK: Home Still Sweet For Crimson

Improvement in the forecheck was a major contributor to the Harvard men’s hockey team’s victory Friday night over Clarkson­—a team the Crimson hadn’t defeated since 2006.

“I think we scored up and down the lineup, and for the first time this year we were able to establish a good, consistent, solid forecheck,” said Harvard Coach Ted Donato ’91.

Harvard looked to a new source for additional help in improving its offensive game.

The Crimson spent last week watching old NHL clips to sharpen its offense.

“The main focus of this week was on our forecheck,” senior forward Nick Coskren said. “Our two games at Union and RPI we weren’t getting much offense going 5-on-5. We had the puck and we were dumping it in and they were breaking it out too easily.”

This approach worked for Coskren, who matched the number of goals he scored his entire sophomore season in Friday’s game alone.

“We had that one shift where Joe Smith ended up scoring, and the line of Jimmy Fraser, Steve Rolecheck, and Colin Moore, cycled it for about thirty seconds, getting all five guys involved, and that’s what we worked on all week,” Coskren said.

FRESH MEAT

Friday night’s battle between Harvard and the Golden Knights highlighted a faceoff between two freshmen goalies, the Crimson’s Matt Hoyle and Clarkson’s Paul Karpowich.

Harvard had 23 shots, and the Golden Knights had 24.

But the real difference in the game was the number of saves made by each team.

While Hoyle had 23 saves and allowed only one goal, Clarkson’s Karpowich managed only 18 saves, allowing five goals.

“I thought [Hoyle] was excellent tonight, and I think he’s been very solid for us,” Donato said. “I think he has made a lot of things looks pretty easy, and he’s looked comfortable, which is not to be taken for granted for a freshman or for any goalie that doesn’t have a lot of experience. So he’s done a good job.”

Good may not be a strong enough adjective, since both teams relied heavily on their rookie keepers, and Hoyle’s superior performance helped the Crimson collect its third victory at home this season.

“It was a great night,” Coskren said. “Our defense played incredible back there, especially with the pressure that Clarkson brings.”

HOME ALONE

Just five games into conference play, Harvard is still undefeated at home and has yet to win a competition on the road.

Winning patterns like Harvard’s can often be attributed to home ice advantage, but a crucial aspect of that advantage—the fans—didn’t play a significant role in Friday night’s blowout over Clarkson.

While more Crimson fans trickled in as the game progressed, at the beginning of the first period, the Golden Knights’ fans easily outnumbered the hometown crowd.

The Clarkson band, the loudest part of the crowd, even began chanting, “we can’t hear you,” at one point during the first period, mocking the lack of Harvard fans and the meager attempts of several of Harvard’s students to cheer on their team.

Despite the atmosphere, the Crimson came out strong and scored three times in the first period, showing that actions speak louder than words, but still giving no clue as to where the home game magic comes from.

TWO MINUTE MINORS

Coming into the game, Clarkson was ranked No. 16 and had previously tied the No. 1 team in the country, Colorado College, twice...At the end of the game a Clarkson bagpipe player added humiliation to defeat as he played a funeral march as the fans filed out of the arena.