This weekend, fourth-year forward Colin Blackwell helped the Harvard men’s ice hockey team advance past Brown into the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals with two goals on Friday and the game-winner on Saturday. Several other Crimson athletes also had particularly impressive performances this week:

Sarah Edney, Women’s Ice Hockey

Senior defenseman Sarah Edney took Most Outstanding Player honors in Potsdam, N.Y., this weekend as the Harvard women's ice hockey team captured its first ECAC title since 2008.

On Saturday, Edney provided the tying goal midway through the third period to force overtime in a 2-1 Crimson win over Quinnipiac in the semifinal. The Ontario native continued to shine in the final against Cornell the next day, as she kick-started the Crimson’s eventual 7-3 win by scoring the team's first and third goals. Her unassisted strike at 3:59 in the third period gave Harvard its first lead of the game less than a minute after she provided the primary assist on freshman Karly Heffernan's tying goal.  

Jimmy Vesey, Men’s Ice Hockey 

Junior forward Jimmy Vesey is no stranger to outstanding performances – he recently received Ivy League Player of the Year honors. This weekend, Vesey did not disappoint in the ECAC Tournament action against Brown.

On Friday, Vesey scored two goals, which brought his tally up to 24 goals this year. He also assisted on the game's first goal on his way to his his sixth three-point game this season. 

Vesey upped both of these season stats on Saturday with a goal and two assists. Vesey is the first Harvard player to reach the 50-point plateau since Dominic Moore ’03 (51 points) did so during the 2002-2003 season. 

David Ng, Wrestling

This weekend at the EIWA Championships, senior wrestler David Ng was a standout competitor in a challenging tournament for the Crimson. Despite injuries to his teammates, Ng finished fifth after going 4-2 in the tournament. The senior advanced to the fifth place match after narrowly missing a spot in the third place match in a tiebreaker.

Not only did this fifth place victory secure Ng the fifth and final bid for the heavyweight NCAA championship, but it was also Ng's highest career finish at the EIWA Championships. Having come in eighth in his sophomore year and seventh in his junior year, Ng advanced in the rankings by defeating Garrett Ryan of Columbia, 2-0, to clinch the win.

This wasn’t Ng’s first meeting with Ryan – Ng had lost to Ryan only the day before in the quarterfinal of the championship bracket, 3-1. However, Ng bounced back from this loss by defeating Ryan after an extremely close match. Ng will continue to represent Harvard at the NCAA championships on March 19 in St. Louis. 

Miye D’Oench, Women’s Ice Hockey

Junior forward Miye D’Oench scored a controversial goal against Quinnipiac 2:39 into the overtime period Saturday to clinch a spot in the ECAC final.

D’Oench directed the puck into the back of the Quinnipiac net after the puck bounced off her chest near the crease. After a lengthy review, the goal stood.

D’Oench would continue to score in the championship with a power play assist and an empty net goal.

The awards just keep on coming for the Harvard men’s and women’s track teams.

Just one week after the women took home their third consecutive Indoor Heps title, while the men finished fifth, various individuals were recognized for their hard work. 

The recognition began from the Ancient Eight, as head coach Jason Saretsky was named the Co-Women’s Head Coach of the Year, sharing the award with his Columbia counterpart, Dan Ireland.

The honors continued for Saretsky, as the USTFCCCA named him the women’s Head Coach of the Year for the Northwest Region, with assistant coach Kebba Tolbert, who works with the sprinters, hurdlers, long jumpers, and triple jumpers, tabbed as the women’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

Saretsky and Tolbert wouldn’t be the only one recognized, as a total of seven Crimson individuals, and one relay team, garnered First-Team All-Ivy League Honors after taking home the title in their events.

Senior Danielle Barbian led the pack with two selection, picking up her second straight first team nod in the 60 meter dash, while obtaining another first team honor in the 200 meter race. The senior is the first Harvard athlete to garner two first team nods since Helena Ronner ’03 did it in 2002.

Barbian was joined by sophomore Nikki Okwelogu and junior Autumne Franklin, who earned their selections in the shot put and 60-meter hurdles, respectively.

The good news didn’t stop there for Okwelogu, as the Fresno, Calif, native was announced as one of 16 participants in the shot put for the 2015 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, the only Crimson athlete to qualify. The sophomore was also recognized as the Northeast Region Field Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA

The 4x880 yard relay squad consisting of junior Paige Kouba, senior Molly Renfer, co-captain Erika Veidis, and junior Gabrielle Scott, which clinched the women’s Heps victory, was also honored with a first team All-Ivy selection.

Veidis, co-captain Ashley Collinsworth, and junior Taylor DuPont were awarded second team honors for their performances in the 800 meter run, 60-meter dash, and weight throw, respectively.

On the men’s side, captain Jarvis Harris earned first team honors in the 60-meter hurdles for his championship performance in the event. Harris was joined by rookie Malcolm Johnson, who took home the first team nod in the 60-meter dash and was the only Harvard freshman to make it on to the top squad.

Sophomore Efe Uwaifo joined the sprinters, garnering the first team selection for his performance in the triple jump. Freshman Matthew Hurst was named to the second team for his runner-up performance in the 200 meters.

With the indoor season now behind them, the Crimson squads look forward to the outdoor portion of the season, where the women will once again try to defend their Ivy League title, while the men look to improve on their performance from the indoor season.

Jimmy Vesey will enter the ECAC tournament this weekend with another accolade to his name.

Four days after the junior forward clinched the ECAC Hockey scoring crown, the Ivy League named Vesey its 2014-2015 Player of the Year Thursday. The league also recognized linemate and junior co-captain Kyle Criscuolo, fourth-year defenseman Patrick McNally, junior defenseman Desmond Bergin, co-captain defenseman Max Everson, and fourth-year goaltender Steve Michalek.   

Vesey is the ninth Harvard player to win the award since the 1979-1980 season and the first since 2000, when senior goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo received top honors. Vesey’s win, coming on the heels of an All-Ivy Rookie of the Year award in his freshman season, snaps the Crimson’s longest drought since 1980.

The Boston native finished the regular season on Saturday with 22 goals and 22 assists to lead all Division I players in goals per game (0.76). His 1.52 points per game are good for third-best in the country.

A Nashville Predators draft pick, Vesey was one of four unanimous selections to the Ivy League’s first team. Harvard’s last first team selections were defenseman Danny Biega ’13 and forward Alex Killorn ’12 during the 2011-2012 season.

After Vesey, the Ivy League’s next-highest scorer this season was Criscuolo, who received Second Team All-Ivy honors. The New Jersey product tied with Vesey for the most assists among Ivy players and added a career-high 15 goals.

Despite a season shortened by injury, fourth-year defenseman Patrick McNally was also recognized on the Second Team. Among Ancient Eight blue liners, McNally led all in points per game and finished just two total points off the pace set by first team selection Rob O’Gara, who played in 29 games to McNally’s 15.

Outside the first and second teams, the Ivy League recognized three players as Honorable Mention All-Ivy. All three wear Crimson: Everson, Bergin, and Michalek. Everson and Bergin have anchored the Crimson’s top two defensive pairs all season while Michalek has been the team’s answer in net, setting a Beanpot single-game saves record in the process.

Yale coach Keith Allain won the inaugural All-Ivy Coach of the Year award as the Bulldogs placed three players on the first team. Yale freshman Ryan Hitchcock was the league’s unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year.

HARVARD ALL-IVY PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

1982-1983 Mark Fusco, D

1983-1984 Grant Blair, G

1984-1985 Scott Fusco, F

1985-1986 Scott Fusco, F

1989-1990 C.J. Young, F

1990-1991 Peter Ciavaglia, F

1992-1993 Ted Drury, F

1993-1994 Steve Martins, F

1999-2000 J.R. Prestifilippo, G

2014-2015 Jimmy Vesey, F

After winning eight straight games to grab sole control of the Ivy League, the Harvard men’s basketball team (19-6, 9-2 Ivy) laid an egg Friday Night in Ithaca. The Crimson shot just 25 percent from the floor and 61 percent from the free throw line, with its top three players combining to make just 13 of 43 shots from the floor. Harvard will look to earn a split on the Gentleman’s C’s road trip when it visits Columbia (13-12, 5-6). Below, The Back Page takes a look at the three main things to keep your eye on as Harvard visits Levein Gymnasium.

Playing For the Trophy: Arguably the two leading Ivy League Player of the Year candidates will square off Saturday night. Harvard senior wing Wesley Saunders, the reigning ILPOY, missed 15 of his 21 shots last night. He finished with nice round totals of 19 points and 11 rebounds—including a personal 6-2 run to bring Harvard within four—but was outshined by Cornell senior forward Shonn Miller (24 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks). Columbia junior guard Maodo Lo averaged 26.5 points a week ago in sweeping Brown and Yale, but similarly came down to earth in a surprising 84-71 loss to Dartmouth, making just four of 13 shots with four turnovers and zero assists.

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After its thrilling come-from-behind win against Princeton, the Harvard men’s basketball team (19-5, 9-1 Ivy) stands alone atop the Ancient Eight. Joe Lunardi, who has had the Crimson in his bracket since Harvard won in New Haven, has projected the Crimson—which holds its fate in its own hands—to be a 12 seed for the third time in four years, playing Wichita State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s what some other outlets have been saying about the Ancient Eight race as it heads towards its conclusion:

Ken Pomeroy: College basketball’s most famous statistician has the Crimson as the 67th best team in the country, roughly unchanged from previous weekends. Harvard was ranked in the top 40 early in the season, but losses to Holy Cross and Virginia knocked it down several rungs. Yale remains in the low 80s (currently 81) after losing to Columbia, which the model sees as the third best team in the conference.

Vegas: While I couldn’t find any source telling Harvard’s odds of winning the Ivy League—@ivybball pegged the odds of a solo victory at around 90 percent—Vegas online sportsbook Bovada gives the Crimson 500/1 odds to win the national championship. Oddly enough, it gives Georgia Tech the same odds but has suspended bets on that channel. Per vegasinsider.com, the Crimson has been a sloppy cover, going just 8-10 on the year and failing four times to cover spreads of at least nine points. 

ESPN: In ESPN: The Magazine’s latest issue, Jordan Brenner and Peter Keating identified Harvard as a ‘Generic Killer’ type of underdog for the NCAA Tournament. Grouped with Xavier, the Crimson was pegged as a tough matchup for Generic Giants Northern Iowa and Oklahoma. Lo and behold, the Sooners are the fourth seed in Harvard’s projected region.

CollegeInsider: Before the season, we took a look at whether Harvard would be the top mid-major program in the country if you stripped out “name only” mid-majors like Wichita State. The performance this year has not given the Crimson a credible claim to first, as Harvard ranks seventh in the latest mid-major top 25, five spots below Yale and directly below Murray State, Valparaiso, and Stephen F. Austin.