Vesey is first Ivy Player of the Year from Harvard since the 1999-00 season (Gil Talbot).
PRINCETON, N.J. – Harvard junior forward Jimmy Vesey has been named the Ivy League Player of the Year, as announced by the conference office Thursday afternoon. Vesey earned a spot on the All-Ivy League first team, while Kyle Criscuolo and Patrick McNally garnered spots on the second team and a trio of Crimson were named honorable mention.
In 10 Ivy League games this season, Vesey scored five goals and collected seven assists. Overall, Vesey finished the regular-season with 44 points and the nation's third-best points per game average at 1.52. His 22 goals in 29 games (0.76 GPG) led to him posting the highest goals per game mark nationally. This is Vesey's second major award from the Ivy League, he was named the Rookie of the Year during his freshman campaign in 2012-13, and also earned a spot on the all-conference second team a year ago.
Vesey is just the 10th player in Harvard history to be named Ivy League Player of the Year since the League began distributing the award in 1979-80. The most recent Harvard player to win the award was goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo during the 1999-00 season. Vesey is also the first Harvard player selected to the All-Ivy League first team since 2011-12 when Danny Biega and Alex Killorn earned spots.
Kyle Criscuolo is coming off an outstanding regular season in which he compiled 37 points on 15 goals and 22 helpers. Nationally, he ranked 11th in points per game at 1.28. In 10 Ivy League games, Criscuolo posted a +6 rating, tied for tops on the team. He had eight points off three goals and five assists. The junior co-captain scored twice on the power play and two of his tallies counted as game-winners in Ancient Eight contests.
McNally dressed in six Ivy League games before suffering an injury in the first period at Cornell January 23. Prior to that, McNally had racked up three goals and five assists against Ivy opponents. His season started off with a bang, scoring two goals in the season-opener versus Dartmouth and he also chipped in three assists in a 6-2 win over Brown.
Earning the only three honorable mention nods were defensemen Desmond Bergin, Max Everson and goaltender Steve Michalek.
Bergin matched Criscuolo with a +6 rating against Ivy opponents, while also chipping in a goal and assist. On the year, Bergin had seven points on a goal and six assists playing as a top-four defenseman. Max Everson, a senior co-captain, played as a top-line defenseman for most of the season. He had just one point in conference play, his first career goal in a win over Brown on November 14. Michalek started all 10 conference games in net, registering a minuscule 1.88 GAA to support a .936 save percentage.
Harvard opens up ECAC Tournament action this weekend at Bright-Landry Hockey Center against Brown.
