Athletes of the Week: Hockey, Volleyball Stars Propel Teams to Wins

Despite the deep freeze over most of the country, three Harvard athletes stayed particularly hot this past week and earned themselves co-athlete of the week honors.

Alexander Kerfoot, Men’s Hockey

With the men’s ice hockey team down 2-1 in the last minute this past Tuesday, a loss seemed imminent. But on a last ditch effort, freshman forward Alexander Kerfoot netted a goal with 49 seconds remaining to lead the Crimson to a 2-2 tie against No. 8 Quinnipiac.

With senior goaltender Raphael Girard pulled, Harvard had an extra man and one last chance on the attack to try to slip a goal past Quinnipiac goalie Michael Garteig. Junior defenseman Patrick McNally sent a pass to Kerfoot on his way towards the net. After passing out wide to sophomore Kyle Criscuolo, the first-year player received the puck in the front of the net and was able to poke it into the back of the net, extending Harvard’s point streak to four games.

Sydney Daniels, Women’s Hockey

Kerfoot was not the only freshman to engage in last-minute heroics this week. With the No. 4 women’s ice hockey team tied at two goals apiece against Northeastern on Saturday, freshman forward Sydney Daniels put a backhand shot past the goaltender with 2:03 remaining in the final period to give the Crimson a 3-2 victory.

The Huskies’ Hayley Scamurra knotted the game up at 2-2, 14:52 into the last frame with a backhand herself. But just over three minutes later, junior forward Samantha Reber chased a puck into the offensive zone, sending a crossing pass into Daniels, who promptly finished just past the outstretched pad of Huskies goalie Chloe Desjardins to give Harvard the lead.

DJ White, Men’s Volleyball

Meanwhile, north of the U.S. border, junior outside hitter DJ White also helped dig the men’s volleyball team out of a 2-1 deficit, leading the Crimson to a 3-2 win over Laval University on Wednesday.

Knotted at 25-25 in the fourth set, the Harvard attack propelled by White rallied off two straight points to win the set, forcing a tiebreaking set that the Crimson would go on to win.

The junior led the Harvard attack, recording 21 out of the Crimson’s 66 kills en route to the program’s first win in Canada. The third-year player was also efficient, logging only one error and a kill percentage of .513.

White also contributed to the defensive effort, notching seven digs in the team’s first win of the year.

White also led the squad with 14 kills on Thursday against Laval in a losing effort, 3-1.