Hockey '10-'11
Coskren Ready to Shine
Before she was elected tri-captain of the Harvard women’s hockey team, before she spent the summer with the national team, and before she became an All-ECAC selection and nominee for the Patty Kazmaier Award, Leanna Coskren was the baby of a hockey-playing family who was always trying to keep up with her bigger and stronger older brothers. It wasn’t easy—all four brothers went on to play Division I hockey.
“I guess growing up I was always trying to do everything they did and whatnot, and so that’s how I got into hockey,” Coskren says.
New Blood Behind the Blue Line
The Harvard men’s hockey team hopes that some fresh faces will make a big impact in keeping the puck out of the net this season.
The squad welcomes five new players—three defensemen and two goaltenders—onto the ice of Bright Hockey Center, and with their relentless work ethic and team-oriented mindset, the freshmen look to have great potential to help the Crimson build on last year’s 9-21-3 record and ninth-place ECAC regular-season finish.
Class of 2013: Making Its Mark
Young and fast—those were two words Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 often used to describe his men’s hockey team last season. For the 2010-11 campaign, the Crimson will look to add another word to that description: mature.
“The guys are chomping at the bit to get going,” assistant captain Kyle Richter says. “We have a very positive outlook for the season. I think we’ve matured this year.”
Crimson Gets A Re-Freshmen-t
When they first walk into the Yard, many Harvard freshmen are expecting their college experience to be a stepping stone to the future. But for most athletes, these four years can represent the culmination of everything they’ve been working towards. The women’s hockey players are no exception.
“Apart from the Olympic team...this is our NHL,” freshman Lyndsey Fry says. “For most of us, this is as far as it’s going to go. And walking into that locker room, it’s like, ‘This is it. This is why we’ve been playing so long, and this is what we’ve been working for.’”
Richter Stands Tall in Final Season
In a sport known for flashy playmaking and hard-hitting brawls, it’s easy to overlook the guy in the back minding the net. Goaltending may not be the most glamorous position in hockey, but in that role—perhaps more than any other—an individual can have a profound impact on whether a game is won or lost.
Senior netminder Kyle Richter’s career on the Harvard men’s hockey team certainly reflects this phenomenon.