Jamie Clark Named Men's Soccer Head Coach
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Harvard Varsity Club NEWS & VIEWS of Harvard Sports Volume 50, Issue No. 7 www.varsityclub.harvard.edu February 29, 2008 Men’s Hockey’s Beanpot Showing Fuels Late-Season Surge by Casey Hart Brian Babineau photo Assistant Director of Athletic Communications The locker room was at first silent, sullen. The Harvard men’s hockey team had come so far in the cham- pionship game of the 56th Beanpot, scoring twice in the final nine minutes to force overtime after trailing No. 7 Boston College, 5-3, only to see the Eagles score in the extra session for a 6-5 win. The loss denied the Crimson its 11th Beanpot title and first since 1993. But Harvard’s disappointment was quickly replaced with optimism and excitement. On college hockey’s biggest regular- season stage, the Crimson had shown not only that it could compete with a high-caliber opponent—BC has played in the last two NCAA championship games—but also that Harvard could battle through adversity. “We knew how special this opportunity was,” senior co- Doug Rogers ‘10 (kneeling) is congratulated after scoring against B.C. in the captain Mike Taylor said after the game of the chance to play for Beanpot final. Rogers has been hot as Harvard has won six of its last seven games. a Beanpot. “There was a feeling on the bench that we were going to tie this thing up. We played desperately, and we have to keep A 4-2 loss Feb. 1 at Brown followed, but Harvard bounced that going forward down the stretch.” back three days later with a dominating 3-1 Beanpot win against And they have kept it going. Since the Beanpot loss, the Northeastern on goals in the first seven minutes by seniorsPaul Crimson has swept back-to-back home weekends against ECAC Dufault and Taylor and sophomore Doug Rogers. The Crimson Hockey opponents to move into third place. Harvard (13-11-3, held its third straight opponent to 20 or fewer shots on net. 11-7-2 ECAC) enters the final weekend of the regular season at The Crimson started its current league winning streak Feb. 8 Colgate and Cornell needing three points, or a win and a Cornell at red-hot Union. The game marked the debut of the league’s hot- or Union loss, to secure a first-round bye in the league playoffs. test line, Taylor, Rogers and freshman Matt McCollem. The rookie While the comeback against BC may have been the biggest scored his first goal in the game as Harvard once again used a momentum builder, the start of Harvard’s turnaround coincided strong start, holding Union to one first-period shot, and held on with the beginning of the second semester. Following a 6-2-1 start for a 3-2 win. It was the Dutchmen’s first home loss in league play. to the season, Harvard hit a rough stretch in December and Janu- Next up was the thrilling Beanpot final on Feb. 11. The Eagles ary, going 0-7-2 over its last nine games before the exam break. scored the opening goal, but Rogers assisted Taylor and McCol- The players came out of the break with a renewed focus. The lem on first-period goals. BC scored twice in the second and Har- Crimson put together perhaps its most complete performance of vard had a would-be goal kept off the board after video review the year Jan. 26 at Dartmouth, using a fierce forecheck to keep showed the whistle had blown before the puck crossed the line. the puck in the Big Green zone most of the night while limiting Rogers tied things up with a power-play tally early in the Dartmouth to 19 shots. Senior Jon Pelle scored a pair of goals in a third, only to see the Eagles score twice more. Harvard’s seniors 3-1 win. continued on page 4 Winter Sports Updates Women’s Hockey (26-1-0, 22-0-0 ECAC, 10-0-0 Ivy) • Despite a scare against Colgate on Feb. 22, the No. 1 Crimson wrapped up the first perfect ECAC regular season in the history Christina Kessler ‘10 of the program and tied the 1998-99 team for the fewest losses in a regular season. • Sarah Vaillancourt made a strong statement in her push for the John Reilly photo Patty Kazmaier Award with a game-winning, shorthanded break- away goal in a 3-2 win at Colgate and two more scores the next night at Cornell. The junior finished the regular season with 53 points (21-32-53) and ranks fifth in the nation in points per game. • Sophomore goalie Christina Kessler notched her national-best 25th win against the Big Red and leads the nation with a .959 save percentage, a .962 winning-percentage and owns the only sub-1.00 goals against average in the nation (0.89). • The Crimson claimed the top spot in both national polls by the beginning of February and held its first eight opponents this month to one goal or fewer. Two of those wins came by 3-1 scores in the Beanpot tournament. Junior Sarah Wilson had a goal and an assist in the final against host Boston University, while sophomore Anna McDonald added two assists to help the Crimson claim its 12th Beanpot title. • Vaillancourt and senior Caitlin Cahow have both been named Kazmaier Award finalists. Harvard players have won the award five of the previous 10 years. It is awarded annually to the top player in the nation. • Harvard brings its 16-game winning streak into the ECAC quarterfinals, where the Crimson will host Cornell in a best-of- three series beginning Feb. 29. If Harvard defeats the Big Red, the Crimson will host the league semifinals and final March 7-8. Women’s Basketball (15-9, 8-2 Ivy) Men’s Swimming (9-0, 8-0 Eisl) • After road wins over Penn and Princeton on Feb. 22-23, the • No. 22 Harvard earned the EISL regular-season title thanks to Crimson remains in second place in the Ivy League. Harvard has a perfect conference and overall record. It is the sixth league title won three straight games and seven of its last eight. for the Crimson in head coach Tim Murphy’s 10-year tenure. • Ivy League Co-Player of the Week Katie Rollins was a driving • Zac Ranta was a consistent leader for the diving squad, taking force against Princeton, scoring 22 in a 65-51 win. Emily Tay both the one and three-meter events in the regular-season finale joined Rollins in double figures with 13 and had four assists. at Penn. Senior Sam Wollner won the 200 butterfly (1:52.83) and • Harvard completed the weekend and series sweeps against the 100 freestyle (47.56) against Penn as the Crimson captured 13 Penn with a 76-54 win in Philly. Rollins’ 22 points gave her three of the 16 events in the meet. 20-plus point outings in as many games and five for the season. • Geoff Rathgeber sparked a Harvard sweep of the HYP meet Lindsay Hallion added 17 points, eight assists and six steals. for the first time since 2006. The senior took wins in the 100 • Harvard opened the month dspics.com breaststroke, the 200 IM and the 400 medley relay on the first with home sweeps, downing Penn day of action and followed with wins in the 400 IM and the 200 and Princeton and then Yale and medley relay the day after. Brown. The Crimson bounced • Next up for Harvard is the ECAC Championships which kick back from a loss at Cornell Feb. 15 off on Friday, Feb. 29 in Pittsburgh, Pa. The season culminates at by beating Columbia a night later the Eastern Championships March 6-8 at Blodgett Pool. in New York City. • Rollins leads the league in field Women’s Swimming (6-1, 6-1 Ivy) goal shooting (55.5 percent); Tay ranks second in assists (5.04 per • The Crimson defeated Yale, 198.5-118.5, but could not game); Hallion is fourth in steals. complete the sweep at the HYP meet, falling to Princeton, 210- • The Crimson hosts Columbia 107, and finishing second in the Ivy League standings. Feb. 29 and Cornell March 1. Two • Samantha Papadakis swept the diving events at the meet, wins would move Harvard into capturing the three-meter event and then earning 283.85 points first place or into a tie for first with in the one-meter to best her closest competitor by 12.5 points. the Big Red. The Crimson wraps The 400 free relay team of Katy Hinkle, Laura Murray, Ali Slack up the regular season March 7-8 at Lindsay Hallion ‘08 and Amanda Slaight won the final event of the meet in 3:30.99. Brown and Yale. • Kate Mills earned two NCAA “B” cut times in the meet and placed second in the 200 backstroke against Yale and Princeton. Men’s Basketball (8-18, 3-7 Ivy) • Harvard now preps for the Ivy League Championships at Princeton which will begin Feb. 29 at Princeton. • Wins at Lavietes Pavilion against Princeton and Penn Feb. 22-23 pushed Harvard’s home record to 7-4 and 3-2 in Ivy play. It was the first sweep of the Tigers and Quakers since 1986-87. Wrestling (2-10, 1-4 Ivy) • A thrilling OT victory over Princeton started the weekend off • Injuries continue to plague the Harvard wrestling squad, but right as Harvard closed regulation with a 20-8 run to knot the the Crimson has still seen a number of strong performances so score, 61-61, at the final buzzer.