Men’s Hockey Looks for Revenge at Home

Slightly more than two weeks ago, the Harvard men’s hockey team fell handedly to Northeastern, 6-0, in the preliminary round of the annual Beanpot tournament. The loss was the Crimson’s fifth in a six-game stretch, landing the team six games below .500 on the season.

But since that game on Feb. 3, the Crimson has reversed course, rattling off a four-game point streak, picking up momentum heading into the final stretch of its 2013-2014 campaign. With four games remaining before the playoffs begin, Harvard (9-12-4, 5-9-4 ECAC) begins its last regular season homestand of the year, hoping to carry its recent success into postseason play.

If the team performs like it has of late, it may not be the last game that the Bright-Landry Hockey Center hosts year. Should the Crimson pick up some much needed wins in its final conference games, the squad may entertain the possibility of home-ice for the first round of the playoffs.

Up first on the Crimson’s weekend agenda is a rematch against Yale (13-8-4, 8-7-3). With memories of a 5-1 loss to the Bulldogs under the lights of Madison Square Garden on Jan. 11 still burning bright, Harvard will look for a redeeming performance in the familiar setting of Bright-Landry this Friday.

“It’s always a big rivalry game,” captain Dan Ford said. “We’re excited to play them. It’s a big game in the standings for us.”

The Crimson was able to skate with Yale for the first 20 minutes of the teams’ January matchup. But four straight goals by the Bulldogs—including two from sophomore forward Cody Learned—in the last 40 minutes of the game gave the Bulldogs the heavy-handed win.

“That wasn’t our best effort,” Ford said. “We’re looking forward to get[ting] a chance to play them here [since] we’re play[ying] good hockey now.”

One bright spot for Harvard from its performance in New York City was its ability to keep Bulldog captain Jesse Root off of the scoreboard for the defending national champions. The senior forward has 22 points on the season, and is tied for third in ECAC conference play. The senior is also tied for third in point differentials with a +13 rating.

The lone net on the night for the Crimson from sophomore forward Jimmy Vesey on a wraparound goal by freshman forward Luke Esposito while on man advantage.

In this weekend’s contest, Harvard will likely need to be more effectively on the power play than the team has been so far in conference matchups this season. In conference play, the squad has converted on only 12.7 percent of its chances on the man advantage, currently the worst rate in the ECAC.

But in contrast with its offensive shortcomings, the Crimson’s defense has held strong, boasting the second-best penalty kill in the league. Harvard currently holds a penalty kill percentage of 86.9 percent, fending off the vast majority of other teams’ chances during 5-on-4 play.

“It should be a good game and environment, and that’s what we’re looking forward to,” Ford said.

Harvard also hopes to avenge another early season loss when it plays Brown (10-12-3, 7-10-1) on Saturday. Despite a goal from Vesey in the waning minutes of the game, the Crimson was unable to close the 2-0 deficit it faced entering the third period, and Harvard left George V. Meehan Auditorium with a 2-1 loss that December night.

“Brown’s another good team,” Ford said. “They’ve been doing pretty well lately and are right around us in the standings...so it’s a big matchup for us.”

Harvard will attempt to exploit a lackluster Bears penalty kill performance in an effort to reverse its fortunes. Brown’s .741 mark is the worst in the ECAC, and the Crimson looks to improve on its 0-for-4 performance from its last time out against the Ivy rivals.

This weekend, Harvard will have its hands full trying to slow down sophomore forward Mark Naclerio.  Naclerio has registered 16 goals on the year, the sixth-most mark in the conference. Freshman forward Nick Lappin leads the team with 18 assists for the season..

After a slow start to its campaign and with a current .440 win percentage, the Crimson sits in ninth in the ECAC league standings, currently tied with St. Lawrence. However, Harvard sits only one point behind the Bears, and the Crimson has the chance to surpass Brown in the ECAC rankings with two wins on the weekend. As the season winds down, each point becomes increasingly critical.

“We need to play our game,” sophomore defenseman Patrick McNally said. “[We can’t] worry about what Yale is going to come at us with and what Brown is going to come at us with…. We have to focus on ourselves and play the way we’re capable of.”

—Staff writer Kurt T. Bullard can be reached at kurtbullard@college.harvard.edu.