Men's Hockey Looks to Extend Winning Streak

For the Harvard men’s hockey team, success comes with expectation. Having rocketed into the national rankings this season, the team hits the road this weekend determined to prove it belongs there.

Looking to extend its four-game winning streak, the No. 9/8 Crimson will travel to Princeton on Friday to take on the Tigers and to Hamden, Conn. on Saturday to take on No. 15/15 Quinnipiac.

Harvard (7-1-2, 3-1-2 ECAC) is looking to build off of its road victories against two top-five opponents, Boston University and UMass-Lowell, last week. This is the first time the Crimson has been ranked in the top 10 nationally since the 2005-2006 season—the last time the team made the NCAA Tournament.

“I think we’re pretty confident in ourselves right now, and I think we saw what happened to BU and Lowell, those guys were ranked above us,” junior co-captain Kyle Criscuolo said. “I think it adds a little more motivation to the team that we want to keep winning. We’re not near the top yet. Eight and nine aren’t one.”

This weekend will be the first time that the team has competed outside of New England since it traveled to New York on Nov. 7 to take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union College. But Harvard is 5-0-1 away from the Bright-Landry Hockey Center this season and has already taken down three top 10 opponents on the road.

Junior goaltender Steve Michalek and junior Jimmy Vesey—who were named ECAC Goalie and Player of the Month in November, respectively—are key reasons why the Crimson sits in a tie for second place in the conference behind Quinnipiac. Michalek boasts a conference-best 1.57 goals against average, while Vesey and his linemates—Criscuolo and sophomore Alexander Kerfoot—have recorded 17 of the team’s 36 goals.

“I’m playing on a great line right now,” Vesey said. “Everything is kind of just clicking for us. I think we’re a well-rounded line of hard work, skill, and speed. Those guys have put up just as good numbers as I have, and so any of us could have gotten ECAC Player of the Month.”

Harvard will look to continue its trend of getting on the scoreboard early and maintaining the momentum. The Crimson has scored first in seven of its 10 games and has tallied 14 first period goals on the season.

“I think this year, the difference between the last couple years has been that we’re starting every game really well,” Vesey said. “The last couple years, we went down one or two goals in the first period of every game, but this year we’re coming out with a lot of energy and after the first period.”

Though Princeton (2-7-1, 1-5-0) is in eleventh place in the ECAC, the Tigers have had more success at home, picking up both of their wins at Baker Rink. Similar to Harvard last year, Princeton is led by underclassmen, as six of the team’s top nine goal scorers are freshmen or sophomores.

The Bobcats (9-4-1, 5-1-0) have won eight of their last 10 games and currently reside on top of the ECAC standings. Quinnipiac is led by sophomore forward Sam Anas and freshman forward Landon Smith, who have combined for 33 points.

The Bobcat power play will look to challenge the Crimson penalty kill, which has given up a goal in each of its last three games after going the first seven without conceding a single one.

While Quinnipiac may stand out to some as the team’s tougher game on the weekend, the Crimson is not looking past Princeton. The games this weekend will be Harvard’s last until Dec. 28. The Crimson is looking to go into the meat of its conference schedule atop the conference, which the team could accomplish with a win over the Bobcats.

“Obviously, the goal is four points,” Criscuolo said. “But, at the same time, we’re going to focus on Princeton first. The record might not show it, but I think they’re a talented group. When we get to Quinnipiac, they’re obviously a very skilled team. Hopefully [we can] stay out of the box against those guys and just play confident[ly] at their place.”