Men's Hockey To Meet Rival Yale in Playoffs

The Harvard men’s hockey team set the NCAA record for ties this season, but this weekend, there will be no draws allowed.

Indeed, in the postseason, every game must end with a win or a loss, and in its ECAC quarterfinal series against Yale, the Crimson hopes it can pull out two of the former at Bright Hockey Center.

The Bulldogs, the No. 6 seed, are coming off a dramatic series win over Princeton last weekend. After beating the Tigers, 4-2, in game one, Yale (15-14-3, 10-10-2 ECAC) lost the second contest, 5-4, in overtime before finishing off Princeton, 7-3, in the third match to earn a trip to Cambridge.

Harvard (10-8-11, 8-5-9) enters the best-of-three series fresh off a first-round bye—its first in four years—thanks to a late-season push capped by a home sweep of St. Lawrence and Clarkson that made it the No. 3 seed in the conference.

The Crimson has received a recent spark from sophomore goaltender Raphael Girard. After taking the starting job from freshman Steve Michalek last month, Girard went 3-0-2 in seven February appearances in which he allowed just 1.75 goals per game and recorded a .944 save percentage.

“Raph’s been unbelievable lately,” junior forward Marshall Everson said. “With him playing solid, it just makes our whole game plan a lot easier.”

For his efforts, Girard was named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Month.

“I guess I just took advantage of my chance,” Girard said. “We needed big wins, and the guys played well in front of me.... It was a total team effort.”

Trying to put an end to the netminder’s hot streak will be a Bulldog offense that ranked first in the conference with 3.62 goals per game. Yale was led by captain Brian O’Neill, who finished eighth in the nation and second in the ECAC with 45 points—on 21 goals and 24 assists—this season.

Antoine Lagniere—who recorded a game-three hat trick against Princeton—Kenny Agnostino, and Andrew Miller all also recorded 30-plus points for the Bulldogs, with Miller tying for eighth in the nation with 27 assists.

“We know that Yale loves to play a transition game,” Girard said. “Our coach was telling us today about how many breakaways they can get, so we’ve got to make sure not to create turnovers, make sure especially at the start of games we pound the puck, wear them down physically, just stop them from generating momentum.”

Agnostino had two goals and a pair of assists in Yale’s 7-1 win over Harvard in New Haven on Feb. 18. That victory evened the season series for the Bulldogs, who fell in Cambridge, 4-3, on Jan. 27, thanks to two scores—including the game-winner with 1:19 to go—by senior forward Alex Killorn.

“The difference [in those two games] was the way we came out,” Everson said. “At home, I thought we came out faster and a little more physical. I think that’s going to be the key for us, to kind of get the jump on them instead of reacting to the way they play. If we can make it our style of game, I feel like we have a much better chance of winning.”

Killorn led the Crimson with 18 goals and 36 points in the regular season and finished 10th in the nation with 0.62 scores per game. He was named to the All-Ivy first team last week along with junior defenseman Danny Biega, who paced the squad with 22 assists.

The task of halting the Harvard attack will fall to Yale goaltender Jeff Malcolm, who was seventh in the ECAC with a 2.71 goals against average and .910 save percentage.

Both teams come into the series playing well. Harvard has just one loss in its last 11 ECAC games, while Yale is 4-1-1 in its previous seven contests.

But the Bulldogs have historically struggled mightily at Bright, where the Crimson leads the all-time series, 30-4-3. On the whole, after being ranked No. 1 in the country for much of last year, it has been a disappointing, up-and-down season for Yale.

Harvard, on the other hand, has surpassed all preseason expectations. After being picked to finish dead last in the ECAC media poll, the Crimson ended up third, thanks in large part to a power play that ranked second in the nation.

Harvard has won seven of its last 10 ECAC quarterfinal series but fell at Dartmouth in the quarters last year. This time around, fresh off a rest Everson says was vital for getting the team healthy, the Crimson can advance to the ECAC semis in Atlantic City by toppling the Bulldogs.

“It’s the Yale-Harvard rivalry, which always carries a little more depth to it,” Everson said. “Add in the fact that it’s playoffs, do-or-die, it makes it even more intense and exciting.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.