Crimson On Hunt For New Goalie

It seemed as though the Harvard men’s hockey team had finally solved the goalie question—for the next two years, anyway.

After struggling to find a permanent starting goaltender throughout the 2006-07 season, the Crimson finally landed on then-freshman Kyle Richter to take the reins in the crease. Richter proved his mettle time and again during last year’s campaign, and he received the Ken Dryden award as the top goaltender in the ECAC for his stellar performance in the net.

But now the junior from Calgary, Alberta, is taking a year off for unspecified personal reasons, and it looks like Harvard is back to square one.

“[Richter’s absence] will certainly have an effect—there’s no denying that,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “But whether that’s a negative effect or a long-term positive effect remains to be seen. As a group, I think that we’re determined to have a successful season and don’t want to use this situation as a crutch.”

Richter’s shoes will definitely be hard to fill. The junior was not only one of the Crimson’s greatest assets, but he was also the best goalie in the league.

Last season, he went 17-13-4 in his 34 games and landed a 2.19 goals-against average as well as a .923 save percentage.

Richter also recorded three shutouts, two of which came on consecutive nights, making him the first Harvard goalie in over 25 years to post back-to-back shutout victories.

Over the course of the season, he notched 884 saves, including a career-high 42 saves in a 6-1 victory against then-No. 16 St. Lawrence on Nov. 3. Plus, in a 6-1 victory against Yale on Feb. 22, in which he blocked 27 shots, Richter became the first Crimson goalie to score a goal.

“Kyle was a really great player for us,” senior co-captain Brian McCafferty said. “It’s tough not to have him. But it’s happened in the past when goalies graduated or were injured. It doesn’t change our philosophy on defense. We’ve still got to play our game.”

It won’t be easy, as the Crimson is also without senior blueliner Jack Christian, who remains on the mend from an earlier injury.

But despite losing two key defensive players, Harvard still boasts a strong lineup in the back. Five blueliners are returning to the ice this season, including junior defenseman Alex Biega, who was named to the coaches’ and the media’s preseason all-league teams just last Monday.

“We have a solid group of guys back there ready to take charge,” McCafferty said. “As a defensive core, we’re going to be as strong as we’ve ever been. We’re going to go out, be committed to the defense, do the little things right and we’ll be fine. [Losing our goalie] is a loss, but it happens all the time, and we’ll come out this season just as confident.”

The Crimson’s strong defensive core will be a necessary asset as it tests out its three candidates for the starting goaltender position, none of whom have much experience under their belts, given that Richter enjoyed the lion’s share of the playing time last season.

Junior John Riley served as a backup goalie for the Crimson, but only appeared in two games last season. Sophomore Ryan Carroll was injured halfway through the season and sat out for a considerable period of time.

Carroll has only appeared in one college competition. Finally, freshman Matthew Hoyle is a highly regarded recruit who offers a lot of potential but has yet to be tested in a college arena.

“At this point I’d say there is a large window of opportunity, but we’re confident that one of those guys will step up,” Donato said.

How Harvard answers the goalie question will prove critical to winning those close games that are often a feature of the ECAC’s best competitors.

“All three are capable guys, and they’re ready to step up and play,” McCafferty said.

“The most important thing for us right now is to work with each and every one of them and see who’s ready to step up in game time. [Senior co-captain Jimmy Fraser], myself, and the coaches couldn’t be happier with them. There’s no doubting they’ll step up this season, but right now none of us can say just who that’s going to be.”

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