First Home Weekend for M. Hockey

With one victory already under its belt, the Harvard men's hockey team is in a prime position to notch two more in the win column against perennial foes Dartmouth and Vermont in this weekend's home opener at Bright Arena.

Last Saturday the Crimson unveiled its new and improved system as it posted a gritty 1-0 shutout over Brown.

"The way we won last weekend was great and it will definitely give us some momentum this weekend," Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni said. "We're going to face a lot like that over the course of the season and we need to be ready."

Boosted by this winning momentum, Harvard (1-0-0, 1-0 ECAC) is in an excellent position to sweep the Big Green (0-0-0, 0-0 ECAC) and Catamounts (1-1-0, 0-0 ECAC) for the third consecutive time.

Last season, the Crimson swept the pair on the road, coming away from that weekend with a 4-2 victory over Dartmouth, and a 7-6 shootout over Vermont. The Big Green and the Catamounts again fell prey to Harvard at home in the final weekend of the regular season. The Crimson used its sweep to secure the eighth seed for the playoffs.

This year may not be as easy. Dartmouth has been hailed by many pre-season polls as the big sleeper of the ECAC after four straight years of missing the playoffs. And Vermont has the offensive potential to be one of the top-scoring teams in the league.

The Big Green will make its first official appearance on the frozen pond this year. It dropped its only other action, a 3-2 come-from-behind win over McGill.

Laden with blossoming young talent, sophomore Jamie Herrington will pilot the Big Green attack that graduated its two leading scorers from last year, Ryan Chaytors and Curtis Wilgosh.

Herrington, who was selected for the All-ECAC Rookie Team last season, should prove an able replacement, notching 23 points freshman year.

"When we played Dartmouth in the scrimmage [a 2-1 Crimson win], I was impressed with its skill level," Mazzoleni said. "It was a pretty darn close matchup."

Vermont, expected to be a high scoring team, started the year with a flash. It split a pair of 7-4 games, losing at UNH to open the season and defeating Boston University. Jerry Gernander scored four goals against the Terriers.

The offense has since cooled off, dropping a deuce last weekend to St. Cloud, 7-2 and 4-1

Still, Vermont has returned its top two scorers from a year ago, captain Kevin Karlander and assistant captain Matt Sanders. Karlander notched 22 points last season, while Sanders followed suit with 19.

And senior Andrea Moborg, one of the ECAC's top offensive defensemen, will return as the third-highest point scorer for Vermont.

"Vermont likes to skate offensively which will be a good test for us," Mazzoleni said. "It will make us play better and make an overall commitment to the team defensively."

The Crimson has more than enough depth and talent to post the sweep.

Senior goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo will anchor the Harvard defense Friday night. He was the hero for the Crimson last weekend, holding the Bears scoreless on 26 attempts for his second career shutout.

Despite Prestifilippo's great game against Brown, junior netminder Oliver Jonas will get the nod from Mazzoleni on Saturday against Vermont.

Jonas earned an extended look in net after the tremendous job he did filling in for Prestifilippo in last year's playoffs against RPI. He has shown that he too can be a force in goal.

This game will be the Bright debut for Mazzoleni and the Crimson's freshmen.

The rookies made an impressive showing at Brown, especially defenseman Aaron Kim who logged a major amount of ice time. Kim moved up to join senior Matt Scorsune as the Crimson's top offensive threats from the blueline, a preseason concern after the graduation of Ben Storey '99.

"Aaron Kim, [sophomore defenseman] Peter Capouch, and Matt Scorsune played very well last weekend," Mazzoleni said. "I was very pleased with the job Aaron did. He stepped in there and did the yeoman's job on the ice."

The Crimson defense had hoped to get back the defensive services of junior Tim Stay, who may sit out for another week to ensure total recovery from his knee injury.

Up front, junior center Steve Moore will be charged with working on improving the offensive output from last week. Moore beautifully assisted on the Crimson's lone goal last week and leads a fast Harvard attack that should eventually flourish once it acclimates itself to the new system.

That really is the key for Harvard, adjusting to the new system. On paper, the Crimson has a talent edge over Vermont and Dartmouth and should emerge with that sweep. However, snags may arise as the Crimson gets used to Mazzoleni, who has put the program on track to become a force in the ECAC.