Harvard Takes Ice In Beanpot Consolation

The Harvard men’s hockey team (6-13-3, 6-8-3 ECAC) will head to Boston tonight to take on Northeastern (9-15-0, 6-11-0 Hockey East) in the consolation final of the 58th Annual Beanpot Tournament.

In recent years, neither team has been able to wrest the Beanpot crown from Boston University or Boston College, who have split the honors since the 1992-93 season, when the Crimson defeated Boston University, 4-2. The Huskies’ drought goes back even farther to the 1987-88 season.

“I think it’s definitely the pinnacle fan-wise, and the venue is unbelievable,” sophomore forward Alex Killorn said. “I think it’s the best experience all year, unless you get to the Frozen Four or something like that.”

This year will be no different. Harvard hopes to rebound after an embarrassing 6-0 loss to No. 14 Boston College in last week’s semifinal round that also saw the team commit a season-high 17 penalties.

Staying out of the box will be critical for the Crimson should the team hope to overcome a resurgent Huskies team.

Harvard’s play against the Eagles disintegrated as the game wore on. Though BC’s Ben Smith scored early on in the first on a power-play attempt from close range, the Crimson battled back to take offensive control in the final minutes of the period.

Killorn muscled past two Eagles defensemen to inspire an all-out attempt to even the score. It was the closest Harvard would come to finding the back of the net.

After netting two even-strength goals in the second, the Eagles scored three in an unruly third period to pull away from an increasingly disorganized Harvard.

Frustration reached a breaking point when six players were whistled for various penalties within a two-minute period, leaving as many skaters in the penalty box as there were on the ice.

“I think we have to implement some discipline into our game,” senior forward Doug Rogers said. “Not taking penalties, as far as I’m concerned, is a discipline thing. I think everyone on the team’s been guilty of it. It’s really a mindset and committing to being disciplined.”

Since last week’s Beanpot opener, the Crimson has split its road games this weekend against Brown and No. 8 Yale. Most noticeably, junior goaltender Kyle Richter—who started against BC—has been pulled in favor of classmate Ryan Carroll.

Carroll had a total of 68 saves this weekend.

“I think Ryan and Kyle have both done really well for us,” Rogers said. “It’s tough for them sometimes because in games where we don’t play well they see a lot of tough shots.”

Despite cruising over the Bears, 5-2, on Friday night at Meehan Auditorium, Harvard still fell victim to the same mistake that cost it the game against the Eagles. The Crimson committed 13 penalties for a total of 48 minutes.

Harvard cleaned up its act against the Bulldogs, committing just five penalties, and came back from two goals down to tie the game by the beginning of the third. But the Crimson couldn’t hold on against Yale, as the Bulldogs scored four goals in the third to skate to a 6-3 win.

“The night before at Brown, we had a few power-play goals, and we felt pretty confident,” Killorn said. “Yale had a better penalty kill then Brown. We didn’t outwork them when we were on the power play to create second-chance opportunities.”

Northeastern marches into tonight’s game after a close 2-1 loss to Boston University last week in the first round of the Beanpot and a commanding 5-1 win over Merrimack.

Against last year’s NCAA champion Terriers, the Huskies battled back to tie the game at 1-1 halfway through the third with a one-timer from senior Kyle Kraemer before BU scored the winning goal with about five minutes left in regulation.

Northeastern then coasted to a 5-1 victory over Merrimack on Friday. The Huskies were led offensively by Kraemer and junior captain Tyler McNeely, who teamed up to provide assists on two goals in the first. McNeely also netted a goal for himself later in the game.

“We haven’t played Northeastern,” Killorn said. “We know through video and reputation that they are a pretty hardworking physical team. They are going to be coming out playing real hard.”

Limiting the Kraemer-McNeely duo and staying out of the penalty box will be the keys to a Crimson victory tonight. The puck drops at 5 p.m. at TD Garden.

—Staff writer Lucy D, Chen can be reached at lucychen@fas.harvard.edu.