CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Coming off a 1-0 shutout victory over Yale, Harvard men's hockey returns to Bright-Landry for the first time since November to host RPI and Union. Action is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. on both nights. Opening the weekend with RPI, the Crimson will host its annual youth game on Saturday against Union with a post-game autograph session to be held after the final buzzer. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
LAST TIME OUT
- The Crimson split the back-to-back after a narrow defeat at Brown on Friday night and a stellar 1-0 win over Yale on Saturday. The last of an eight-game road swing, Ryan Healey scored the lone goal in the first period against the Bulldogs to help lead the Crimson to a well-earned win.
- On Friday night, Healey, Severo, and Miller added the tallies for the Crimson as it fell to Brown 5-3. Down by two late in the third period, Healey scored on an odd-man rush to pull the Crimson within one before Brown eventually hit the empty net just before time expired.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
- Harvard welcomes RPI and Union to Bright-Landry for a pair of conference matchups. Currently, in seventh place RPI is posting a 7-13-1 record with a 4-6-0 conference record, RPI is coming off a split with Clarkson and St. Lawrence. So far this season, the Engineers have struggled defensively after leading the league in goals against with 84 – 15 ahead of the next closest team.
- Harvard currently is riding a three-game win streak against the Engineers and has won nine of the last 12 meetings dating back to 2017-18. Last season, the Crimson skated to a 3-2 overtime win on the road after Alex Gaffney played the hero after scoring a goal late in the third period to tie the game and netting the eventual overtime winner as the sophomore registered his first career multi-goal game. Harvard followed that up with an easy 4-0 win on home ice. Marek Hejduk found the back of the net in the second and final matchup of the season against RPI.
- Austin Heidemann, Sutter Muzzatti, and Ryan Brushnett lead the way offensively for RPI as the trio have 47 points in 21 games. Tyler Hotson leads the team in goals this year with seven but only has one marker in his last five games. Between the pipes, Jack Watson, Brett Miller, and Carson Cherepak have all split time with Cherepak and Watson both starting eight games each. All three goalies are posting a GAA north of 3.35.
- Union comes to town on Saturday after a decisive 5-1 win over Clarkson and a 2-2 tie with St. Lawrence last weekend. Jumping to fifth in the conference after a five-point weekend, Union is 9-11-1 on the year and 4-5-1 in conference play. Union is second this season in goals for after finding the back of the net 68 times in the 21 games played. While having no trouble scoring, Union is second (only to RPI) in goals allowed this season and has a -1 goal differential to date this season.
- The Crimson has won its last two games against Union and eight of the last 12 meetings. Harvard has scored five goals in each of its last three matchups against the Garnett Chargers including a pair of wins last season. Joe Miller scored and Derek Mullahy made 20 stops on the road last year in a 5-1 win in early November. Philip Tresca and Joe Miller added tallies in the second tilt of the season at Bright-Landry on the way to a 5-3 win.
- John Prokop and Josh Nixon lead the Garnett Chargers in scoring after potting 23 and 17 points respectively. A pass first D-man, Prokop has 18 assists in 21 games played this season. Prokop leads the ECAC in assists. Kyle Chauvette has started 20 of the 21 games this season and has a 3.01 GAA and a .901% save percentage
300 CLUB
- Ted Donato notched his 300th win against Yale on January 13th. One of only three coaches in Harvard Hockey history to hit the 300-win mark, Donato joins William Cleary (324) and Ralph Weiland (315) as the only coaches to record 300 career victories.
- Donato is only 25 wins away from becoming the all-time winningest head coach in Harvard Men's Hockey history.
- Donato currently sits in seventh in all-time wins among ECAC Coaches and is one of seven ECAC coaches to hit the 300-win mark in their careers.
- Donato is one of 53 Division I coaches to record at least 300 wins and one of only 15 active coaches currently in the top 50.
MILLER STAYS HOT
- Joe Miller has been on a tear in recent weeks after adding seven points in his last six games. Originally coming off a weekend with goals in back-to-back games against Princeton and UConn, Miller added three assists against UMass Lowell at the Desert Hockey Classic while also adding a power-play marker against Brown last weekend and a helper on the game-winning goal against Yale. The sophomore has three goals in his last seven games.
- In his last three games, Miller has two goals and three assists.
- No other Crimson player has registered a three-point game this season.
THE HEALEY AND MILLER CONNECTION
- Ryan Healey and Joe Miller have led the way offensively since the Princeton and UConn weekend after 14 points combined over the last seven games.
- Healey has scored in three straight games – something that no other Crimson player has done this season.
- The duo has been a part of four of the last eight goals while at least one of two has been a part of six of the last eight goals.
AMONG CRIMSON D-MEN
- Sophomore Ryan Healey is tied for the team lead in goals through 15 games this season. Already tripling his goal-scoring production from his rookie year, the Massachusetts native ranks among some historically great Crimson d-men this season in terms of his goal-scoring production.
- Healey is on pace to have the most goals from a Crimson defenseman since Riley Walsh in 2018-2019.
- Riley Walsh: 12 G | 31 GP | 2018-19
- Riley Walsh: 8 G | 30 GP | 2019-20
- Adam Fox: 8 G | 31 GP | 2018-19
- Jack Rathbone: 7 G | 28 GP | 2019-20
- Jack Rathbone: 7 G | 31 GP | 2018-19
- Henry Thrun: 7 G | 33 GP | 2022-23
- Henry Thrun: 7 G | 31 GP | 2021-22
- RYAN HEALEY: 6 G | 15 GP | 23-24
ECAC WEEKLY AWARDS
- Ryan Healey earned the second weekly award for the Crimson this season after a three-point weekend. Healey took home ECAC Defender of the Week after a two-goal and one-assist weekend against Brown and Yale while netting the game-winner against the Bulldogs.
KOSKENVUO SHUTS THE DOOR
- Finnish netminder Aku Koskenvuo recorded his first career shutout against Yale on January 13th. The Sophomore goalie stopped 21 shots in the second game of the back-to-back to help add the second win and first shutout of the season for the Crimson.
- Koskenvuo, a fifth-round selection of the Vancouver Canucks recorded the first shutout since Mitchell Gibson in the 2023 ECAC Semi-Finals.
ECAC UPDATE
- While Harvard sits in 12th in the most recent ECAC standings a pair of wins this weekend would have the Crimson potentially up to third place as Harvard is only 6 points behind third-place Clarkson.
NEXT UP
The Crimson hosts back-to-back home series for the first time this season with Cornell and Colgate set to come to town next weekend.
