Men's Hockey Preview: Cornell and Colgate

Last weekend was full of ups and downs for the No. 4/4 Harvard men’s hockey team. Rebounding from its four-goal loss to Yale at Madison Square Garden the week before, the Crimson (11-3-2, 7-2-2 ECAC) lit the lamp six times against Clarkson Friday. But one day later, it was St. Lawrence finding the back of the net with ease, as Harvard dropped its first game all season to a team not named the Bulldogs.

Trailing No. 20/- Quinnipiac by four points for the ECAC lead, the Crimson will need to rediscover its scoring touch this weekend if it wants to keep pace with the Bobcats. But standing in Harvard’s way is a longtime rival and yet another nationally ranked opponent.

FLYING FISH

A barrage of seafood will await Harvard on Friday when it heads west to take on Cornell (7-8-2, 5-5-0). For the last 40 years, the Crimson has been greeted to the tune of frozen fish every time it takes the ice at Lynah Rink, and despite recent attempts by rink officials to ban the ocean-life, Friday should prove no different. The two sides have been doing battle for over a century, with the Big Red leading the all-time series, 73-61-9.

Cornell heads into the newest installment of the rivalry coming off a weekend performance very similar to that of its opponent. The Big Red came up with a dominant 5-1 win over Union on Friday, but struggled to find any offense on Saturday in a 3-0 loss to Rensselaer.

Saturday’s lack of offense was nothing new, however, considering Cornell has recorded just 30 goals through 17 games. But the Big Red has found a way to win despite its deficiencies thanks to the play of sophomore goaltender Mitch Gillam. The netminder leads the country in both save percentage (.948) and goals allowed average (1.47).

In the opposing crease, junior goaltender Steve Michalek will be looking for his first career win over Cornell. After an impressive start to the season, the junior has come back down to earth over his last three games, allowing 10 goals in less than seven periods of play. For the Crimson to emerge from Ithaca with a victory, Michalek will have to go save-for-save with his toughest adversary yet.

Facing Gillam, junior forward Jimmy Vesey will look to extend his streak of consecutive games with a point to 17. After seeming to have that run come to an end on Saturday, Vesey was the beneficiary of a scoring change this week, earning credit for Harvard’s lone goal against St. Lawrence. The junior ranks second in the country in points per game, driving the Crimson with 14 points and 11 assists.

RAIDER RACE

The road trip does not get any easier Saturday, when Harvard takes on No. 15/13 Colgate (14-7-1, 6-3-1). Like Cornell, the Raiders have had little trouble keeping their opponents off the scoreboard, allowing the eighth fewest goals per game in the country. But unlike the Big Red, Colgate also has a knack for finding the back of the net itself.

The Warriors average 2.91 goals per game, good for third in the ECAC. Junior forwards Tyson Spink and Kyle Baun lead the team with 18 points each. Both forwards logged two points their last time out in a 5-4 win over Union on Saturday.

But up against a Crimson team that leads the conference in goals per game (3.69), the Raiders will have their hands full. Colgate will be without their blue line anchor, senior defenseman Spiro Goulakos, who suffered a lower body injury against Union. Goulakos leads the team with 11 assists.

But the Raiders are not the only team to have been bit by the injury bug. Several questions surround the Harvard camp regarding the status of three of its core players: junior defenseman Patrick McNally and the sophomore duo of Alexander Kerfoot and Sean Malone. The team was without all three last weekend and has seen both Kerfoot and Malone out for extended periods of time this season.

Although Colgate has three more overall wins than the Crimson, the Raiders trail the Crimson by three points in conference play. Currently tied for fifth place, Colgate also sits three points ahead of eighth-place Cornell.

—Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jmeagher@college.harvard.edu.