Team Notes: Crimson Look to Tame Tigers, Bobcats

Photo by Jim Rosvold

Game On
The Harvard men's hockey team opens Ivy League play at Princeton Friday in a rematch of last season's ECAC quarterfinals and seeks its first win at Quinnipiac Saturday. Both games are at 7 p.m.

Game Notes (PDF)
ECAC Hockey Live Scoreboard

Follow From Home
Links to subscription video (Friday,Saturday) and free live statistics (Friday,Saturday) provided by both Princeton and Quinnipiac are available on GoCrimson.com. WHRB-FM 95.3 and WHRB.org offer live audio, with Brendan Roche and Raafi Alidina on the call. Friday's game will also be televised on a tape-delay basis by Verizon FiOS1 in New Jersey and on Long Island.

In the News
Dylan Reese '07 Recalled from Bridgeport

Behind the Bench
Former Crimson captain, NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player and 13-year National Hockey League veteran Ted Donato '91 begins his seventh season as The Robert D. Ziff '88 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Ice Hockey. He owns an 93-91-20 record, three ECAC title-game appearances and two NCAA tournament bids.

Last Weekend
The Crimson's first road trip of the season resulted in its second straight weekend split. Harvard defeated St. Lawrence, 4-2, Saturday in Canton, N.Y., behind a first-period breakaway goal and late empty-netter by Eric Kroshus (Calgary, Alta.) and 41 saves from Kyle Richter (Calgary, Alta.). Colin Moore (Medfield, Mass.) and Alex Killorn (Montreal, Que.) also scored, while Danny Biega (Montreal, Que.) logged two assists. Killorn's goal was his second straight game-winner.

A night later and a few miles away in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson took advantage of Harvard's missed opportunities in the first period and a quick pair of goals in the second en route to a 3-1 win. Allan McPherson and Nik Pokuluk scored less than three minutes apart to put the Golden Knights on top for good. Kyle Richter made 32 saves and assisted, along with Alex Killorn, on a goal by Michael Biega (Montreal, Que.).

Balance of Power
Three standings points separate first-place Princeton and the two teams tied for ninth place in ECAC Hockey. The Crimson is in a five-way tie for third place, two points back of the Tigers.

Ivy Implications
Harvard and Dartmouth become the last teams to open Ivy League play this weekend. Princeton has a 2-1 Ivy record for four points in the standings and will have already reached the midway point of its Ivy schedule after playing the Crimson and Big Green.

Leading the Nation
Harvard has the nation's top scoring defense at 1.75 goals allowed per game. The defense is led by senior goaltender Kyle Richter, who ranks second nationally with a .947 save percentage and sixth with a 1.76 goals-against average. Of the Crimson's 12 periods played this season, Richter has held the opponent scoreless in seven.

The Killers
The Crimson has killed its opponents' last 11 power plays. Harvard is 13 for 14 on the penalty kill this season to rank second nationally in penalty killing at 92.9 percent. Harvard has also been successful at staying out of the box, boasting the nation's third-lowest penalty minute average at 8.5.

Road Warriors
Harvard, which opened last season with five straight road games, is finishing a stretch of four straight road games. The Crimson does not play its next full home weekend Jan. 7-8 against Brown and Yale.

Leading the Way
Montreal natives Alex Killorn (2-1-3), Danny Biega (1-2-3) and Michael Biega (1-2-3) share Harvard's team scoring lead.

Reaching Triple Digits
Michael Biega is slated to skate in his 100th game game for Harvard Friday at Princeton. He leads the Crimson with career totals of 23 goals, 35 assists and 58 points. The game will be Harvard's 102nd as a team in Biega's three-plus years.

Scouting the Tigers
Princeton opened the season with non-league, neutral-site losses to Dartmouth and Brown and an ECAC loss at Yale. The Tigers have been the league's hottest team since, winning consecutive road games against Brown, Colgate and Cornell. Only one game, a 5-3 defeat at Yale, has been by more than a single goal. Will Ford's first career goal lifted the Tigers to a 2-1 overtime win at Cornell in their last outing.

Freshman Andrew Calof leads Princeton with 11 points and nine assists and paces all ECAC players with nine points and seven assists in league contests. Mike Kramer (2-4-6) is the team's second‑leading scorer, while Matt Arhontas (5‑0‑5) is the Tigers' top goal-scorer.

Harvard vs. Princeton Series History
Only Yale has faced off against Harvard more than Princeton. Starting with a 6-3 win March 1, 1902 in New York City, Harvard holds a 146-54‑10 series edge. Harvard is 9-5-1 against Princeton under Ted Donato. The Crimson has swept a pair of league playoff series from the Tigers, but Princeton scored a 4-1 win against Harvard in the 2008 ECAC Hockey title game.

Harvard vs. Princeton in 2009-10
The Crimson was 2-1-1 against the Tigers last season, and was unbeaten in three trips to Baker Rink. Michael Biega scored with 57 seconds remaining to complete a two-goal comeback for a 3-3 tie in the regular-season game at Princeton Nov. 14, 2009. Biega, older brother Alex Biega '10 and Doug Rogers '10 each logged a goal and an assist.

At Bright Hockey Center Jan. 29, Conor Morrison (London, Ont.) had Harvard's goal as Princeton's Zane Kalemba (34 saves) outdueled Ryan Carroll(Hackensack, N.J.) (32), 2-1.

Ninth-seeded Harvard used a 7-0 edge in third-period goals to sweep No. 8 seed and host Princeton, 4-2 and 3-0, in an ECAC first-round series. Kyle Richter stopped 70 of 72 Tiger shots, including 37 in a Game 2 shutout. Harvard rallied from a 2-0 deficit with four goals in a 10-minute span of the third period to take Game 1. Daniel Moriarty (Bienfait, Sask.) broke a scoreless tie at 7:11 of the third period in the clinching win.

Playoff Performers
Danny Biega recorded two goals, an assist and a +4 rating in the playoff series at Princeton, while Michael Del Mauro (Watchung, N.J.) and Luke Greiner(Faribault, Minn.) had a goal and two assists each.

Scouting the Bobcats
A 4-2 win Oct. 29 at St. Cloud State capped a 4-1 start to the season for Quinnipiac, but the Bobcats were winless in their next four games before climbing back over the .500 mark with a 3-1 win Saturday at Colgate. Quinnipiac will play its first home league game Friday night against Dartmouth before facing the Crimson.

Freshman twins Connor (3-4-7) and Kevin Jones (3-3-6) have keyed a balanced QU offense, along with Yuri Bouharevich (1-6-7). Dan Clarke has been the starting goalie, but Eric Hartzell made 30 saves to beat Colgate. He owns a .951 save percentage and 1.34 goals-against average.

Harvard vs. Quinnipiac Series History
The Crimson is 7-4-2 against Quinnipiac in a series that dates back to a 5-2 win for the Bobcats in their first ECAC game in 2005. Harvard won a home ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series between the teams in 2008 and is 7-1 at home against the Bobcats. The Crimson is 0-3-2 at Quinnipiac, including a 2-2 tie in the inaugural ECAC Hockey game at TD Bank Sports Center in 2007.

Harvard vs. Quinnipiac in 2009-10
Eric Lampe recorded a hat trick and Quinnipiac defeated the Crimson, 5-1, Nov. 13, 2009 in Hamden, Conn. Michael Biega scored the lone goal for the Crimson, tying the game early in the second period. The Bobcats scored four unanswered goals over the final two periods and went 2 for 8 on the power play.

Three freshmen scored and Kyle Richter made 36 saves as Harvard knocked off No. 8 Quinnipiac, 3-1, Dec. 29 at Bright. Luke Greiner and Louis Leblanc '13 scored in the first and second periods, respectively, before Richter's 16 third-period saves and an empty-net goal by David Valek (Zagreb, Croatia) sealed the win.

Homecoming Kings
Saturday's game is in the hometown of Rence Coassin (Hamden, Conn.), while Brendan Rempel (Willington, Conn.), Michael Del Mauro and Ryan Carroll also return to their home states.

Happy 50th
The Crimson, like its fellow league members, is wearing a patch on its jerseys this season commemorating the 50th season of ECAC play. ECAC Hockey has been home to seven NCAA champions, witnessed over 15,000 games and produced more than 500 NHL players and nearly 300 All-Americans. The league will honor its rich history with initiatives throughout the season.

Clutch Performer
Alex Killorn scored the game's lone goal with 8.2 seconds left on the clock to lift Harvard to a 1-0 win against Rensselaer Nov. 6. He netted another game-winning goal Friday at St. Lawrence and is the only ECAC player with two game-winners in league action. He is tied for fourth nationally in game-winning tallies.

Staying Positive
Danny Biega leads all Harvard players with a +3 rating, while Michael Biega, Chris Huxley (Weymouth, Mass.) and Alex Killorn are all +2.

Streaking
Michael Biega and Alex Killorn are each riding three-game point streaks. Killorn scored goals against Rensselaer and St. Lawrence and assisted on Biega's tally at Clarkson. Biega backhanded a pass between his own legs and those of a defender to set up Killorn's late winner against RPI.

A Milestone Win
Friday's game at St. Lawrence marked the first multiple-goal game in the Harvard career of Eric Kroshus, while Dan Ford (Skaneateles, N.Y.) logged his first collegiate point with an assist to Alex Killorn. With 41 saves, Kyle Richter finished two short of his career high, set last season against Boston University.

Dating Back to Last Season ...
Kyle Richter has recorded two shutouts in his last eight starts. He has surrendered two goals or fewer in six of his last eight and eight of his last 11 games. Defenseman Danny Biega has registered five goals and four assists in the last 11 games.

The Century Mark
Ted Donato need seven wins to become the fourth head coach to lead Harvard to 100 victories. He is seeking to join Harvard legend Bill Cleary '56 (324 wins), Hockey Hall of Famer Ralph "Cooney" Weiland (315) and Ronn Tomassoni (140) in that exclusive club.