Richter Stands Out for Harvard--Again

These days, you can’t get anything past Kyle Richter. In fact, it’s been more than 137 minutes of ice time since he last allowed a goal.

Harvard’s sophomore goaltender led the men’s hockey team to two shutout victories over league opponents in its first weekend at home. The No. 19 Crimson beat No. 16 Rensselaer, 3-0, Friday night and defeated Union, 4-0, on Saturday.

Richter impressed the home crowd with a total of 55 saves on the weekend—28 against the Engineers and 27 against the Dutchmen. He has stopped 115 of the last 116 shots he has faced and earned both league and national recognition for his play last weekend.

Richter was named ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week and Inside College Hockey National Player of the Week for his historic performance.

This weekend marked the first time in over 25 years that a Harvard goalie recorded shutouts on consecutive nights. The last person to do it was Wade Lau ’82, who made a combined 41 saves in blowout victories against Princeton (10-0) and Cornell (7-0) in 1982.

Richter has played a huge role in leading the Crimson, now ranked 19th nationally, above .500 for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

“Every night, he’s making two or three saves that are difference-makers,” said head coach Ted Donato ’91. “The one key way to erase a lot of mistakes is by having a great performance in the net, and Kyle’s given us that so far this season.”

Richter played with a 1-0 lead into the third period against Rensselaer on Friday night, surviving several Engineer power plays. It wasn’t until the third period that Harvard broke the game open and gave their goalie some breathing room.

Two first-period goals against Union gave the Crimson a working lead on Saturday, but the team’s penalty struggles forced it to play shorthanded for 14 minutes. Richter’s strong play in goal, however, has anchored the second-best penalty kill (.958) in the country.

“We won the special-teams battle, and our goaltender was superb,” Donato said. “Those two things combined for a win.”

But the goalie gives most of the credit to his defensemen for their efforts.

“They’re helping me out, I’m helping them out, so it’s a good trust between us right now,” Richter said.

After an up-and-down rookie season, Richter’s comfort at the collegiate level has led him to success in his sophomore campaign.

“Coming in [my] second year as a sophomore, it’s nice to know the system,” he said. “You know the league, you know the pace of play.”

Richter currently leads the nation in both save percentage (.975) and goals against average (0.75). He has already recorded 117 saves in just four games, averaging just over 29 saves per game.

“Nothing needs to be said about Kyle Richter,” co-captain Dave MacDonald said. “He was just playing confidently and it’s nice to have that behind us, that’s for sure.”