CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Men's Hockey (2-1-0, 2-1-0 ECAC) hosts Colgate and No. 6 Cornell this weekend in its return to Bright-Landry. Coming off a sweep on the road, Harvard looks to pick up some more crucial ECAC points this weekend.
PUCK DROP
- The Crimson returns home to Bright-Landry for its first back-to-back at home this year.
- Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Friday against Colgate and 7:00 p.m. on Saturday against Cornell.
- The game on Saturday against the nationally ranked Big Red will be aired on NESN.
LAST TIME OUT
- Harvard swept the Princeton-Quinnipiac trip for the first time since 2017-2018 after picking up a 4-3 overtime win against Princeton and a 3-0 shutout over No. 15 Quinnipiac on Saturday.
- Mick Thompson netted the winner with 0:25 seconds left in overtime again on Friday.
- Thompson's game-winner was his first career goal and the first overtime-winning goal for Harvard since Ian Moore scored to beat Yale last season.
- Aku Koskenvuo made 23 stops in the shutout over Quinnipiac to help give the Crimson its first win over the Bobcats since the 2022 ECAC Championship.
- Lucas St. Louis and Justin Solovey added their first career goals while Ben MacDonald picked up a power-play marker against Quinnipiac.
- Harvard picked up its first win over a nationally ranked opponent since Nov.11, 2023, when it beat No. 7 Cornell at Lynah Rink.
LOOKING BACK
- Harvard tied Colgate in Hamilton early last season before delivering No. 7 Cornell its first loss of the season on Nov. 11.
- Joe Miller and Alex Gaffney picked up the tallies for the Crimson in the win over its Ivy rival.
- The Crimson offense was firing on all cylinders when Colgate came to town on Jan. 27 of last season. Adding six goals, Joe Miller and Ben MacDonald each scored a pair of goals.
- Harvard stormed back from a 2-0 deficit and scored five straight on its way to a 6-3 win at home.
- Harvard would split the season series with Cornell before falling in two games in a hard-fought ECAC Quarterfinal matchup in Ithaca.
SERIES HISTORY
- The Crimson skated to a 1-0-1 record with the Raiders to improve its record to 60-28-10 all-time.
- Harvard trails the career series with the Big Red 71-82-13.
ECAC GOALIE OF THE WEEK
- Aku Koskenvuo earned ECAC Mac Goaltender of the Week after stopping 41 of 44 shots over the weekend against Princeton and Quinnipiac.
- The Espoo, Finland native recorded his third career shutout and his first since the first round of the ECAC playoffs last season.
- The shutout over the Bobcats was the first time they had shutout on home ice since 2022.
THE NEW KIDS
- Justin Solovey, Lucas St. Louis, and Mick Thompson have been great additions to the Crimson offense this season as the trio has combined for seven points over the first three games of the season.
- All three rookies added their first career goals last weekend.
- Thompson currently leads the team in points with one goal and three assists in three games.
- Mick Thompson is currently fourth in points per game (1.33) in the nation among first-years.
- Harvard is the fifth youngest team in the country, with an average age of 21.3 as of Oct. 1
A LOOK AT THE SPECIAL TEAMS
- Ben MacDonald has two of the four Crimson power-play goals this season with Lucas St. Louis and Casey Severo picking up the other two.
- Harvard scored three power-play markers last weekend.
- The PK unit currently leads the ECAC with a success rate of 90.9%.
- Good for eighth in the nation, Harvard has successfully killed off 11 of 12 penalties this season.
RANKED CRIMSON
- For the first time since the beginning of last season, Harvard makes its first appearance in the weekly national rankings.
- Picking up a win over No. 15 Quinnipiac, Harvard checked in at No. 20 on the most recent USCHO poll while coming in at No. 19 on the USA Hockey Coaches poll.
A BUSY PRESEASON
- The Crimson began the preseason with games against the U.S. NTDP and No. 3 Boston University.
- Hosting the U.S. NTDP on Oct. 18, the Crimson fell behind 3-1 heading into the third period.
- Mick Thompson, Cameron Johnson, Kyle Aucoin, and Justin Solovey all scored in the third to give Harvard a 5-4 comeback win.
- First-years Mick Thompson, Lucas St. Louis, and Justin Solovey combined for five points in the third period; Thompson pulled Harvard within one, Solovey netted the game-winner, and St. Louis added three assists.
- The Crimson then skated to a 2-2 tie with the nationally ranked Terriers on Saturday.
- Harvard scored the first two goals after Justin Solovey netted a breakaway goal and Lucas St. Louis added a power-play marker.
- Aku Koskenvuo was solid in goal, making 31 saves against the Terriers.
LEADERSHIP GROUP
- Last season's captains Ian Moore and Zakary Karpa return, joined by Jack Bar in the leadership group.
- Seniors Karpa (89), Moore (93), and Bar (95) are all approaching 100 career games in a Crimson uniform.
- Newport Beach, Calif. native Karpa added four goals and four assists in 31 games last season.
- Moore, a third-round selection by the Anaheim Ducks, netted a career-high three goals last season and added three goals and five assists in 21 games. Moore scored the overtime winner against Yale at Bright-Landry and the game-winning goal against Princeton in the first round of the ECAC playoffs.
- A native of Newmarket, Ont., Bar added one goal and five assists in 27 games while leading the team in blocked shots.
PRESEASON POLL
- Harvard finished sixth in the ECAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
- Cornell (120 points) finished in first with 10 first-place votes, while Quinnipiac (111 points) picked up two first-place votes to finish second.
- Harvard (73 points) follows Cornell, Quinnipiac, Dartmouth (93 points), Clarkson (82 points), and Colgate (75 points) while ranking above St. Lawrence (66 points).
RETURNING TO THE CRIMSON
- The Crimson returns 99% of its goal scorers and 98% of its points from last season.
- The national leader in both categories, Harvard only lost one offensive senior.
- Harvard has the second-largest senior class (9) in the country, only behind Cornell (10).
UP FRONT
- Key offensive producers Joe Miller, Ben MacDonald, Cam Johnson, and Michael Callow all return for the Crimson.
- Miller finished last season with 13 goals and 14 assists, earning spots on the All-ECAC Third Team and All-Ivy First Team. He was named ECAC Forward of the Month in January.
- Rising sophomores Ryan Fine, Cam Johnson, Michael Callow, and Ben MacDonald combined for four of the top 10 points on the team.
- Last year's freshman class was responsible for 24% of the total goals, with underclassmen accounting for 75% of total goals in the 2023-24 season.
ON THE BLUE LINE
- The Crimson returns a veteran D-corps in 2024-25.
- Highlighted by Ian Moore, Jack Bar, Ryan Healey, and Mason Langenbrunner, Harvard's top four have played in many key moments.
- Ryan Healey was one of the most productive defensemen in the country, finishing with nine goals and 13 assists in 29 games. He earned ECAC Defenseman of the Month in January and ranked fourth nationally among defensemen with six power-play goals.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
- Junior Aku Koskenvuo returns as Harvard's starting goalie this season.
- A native of Espoo, Finland, Koskenvuo posted a 2.95 GAA and a .910 save percentage last season, with key performances against Yale and Princeton.
- Koskenvuo made 21 saves in a 1-0 win over Yale in January and 29 saves in an overtime win at Bright-Landry, earning the Tim Taylor Award as the MVP of the Harvard-Yale game.
- Koskenvuo followed that up with a 38-save shutout against Princeton in the ECAC playoffs.
CAREER CRIMSON
- Seniors Alex Gaffney (98), Ian Moore (93), Jack Bar (95), and Zakary Karpa (89) are on pace to play over 100 career games this season.
- With four seniors set to reach this milestone, it is the most since 2017-2018.
THE 300 CLUB
- Ted Donato notched his 300th win against Yale on Jan. 13, 2024, making him one of only three coaches in Harvard hockey history to reach this milestone.
- Donato sits just 17 wins away from becoming Harvard men's hockey's all-time winningest coach.
- Donato is seventh in all-time wins among ECAC coaches and one of 15 active Division I coaches in the top 50 with over 300 wins.
MATT GILROY JOINS THE STAFF
- A North Bellmore, N.Y. native, Gilroy played college hockey at Boston University, where he was a three-time All-American on defense.
- In 2009, Gilroy became the fifth player in history to win both the Hobey Baker Award and an NCAA championship in the same season.
- An undrafted free agent, Gilroy went on to play 225 NHL games, signing his first contract with the New York Rangers in 2009. He also played for the Lightning, Senators, and Panthers before spending five seasons in Europe.
- Gilroy served as an assistant coach with the U.S. NTDP for two seasons prior to joining Harvard.
HEADED OVERSEAS
- Last November the program announced it would be playing in the 2024 Friendship
Four.
- Harvard will join BU, Merrimack, and Notre Dame among the four participants.
- The Crimson will open the tournament with Notre Dame in the first game.
FAMILY TIES
- Five Harvard Players have ties to family members that have played in the NHL.
NHL DRAFT PICKS
- For the second year in a row, Harvard is among the national leaders in NHL draft picks
- playing college hockey. Checking in No. 6 in the country, Harvard has 11 NHL draft picks currently on the roster.
NEXT UP
Harvard plays UMass next Friday in its final tune-up before heading to Ireland for the Friendship Four.
