When Harvard went into the semifinal of the Beanpot against Northeastern last Monday at TD Banknorth Garden, many hockey fans predicted it would be the Huskies' year to shine.
Instead, it was the Crimson's. Harvard, which had only one victory in 11 games (1-8-2) heading into the NU contest, started fast - scoring three times in the first 7 minutes 2 seconds - and won, 3-1. Coach Ted Donato said his team was very prepared and it showed.
"Any time you play well against a good team on that stage, I think it gives your team a lot of confidence," said Donato. "We also have a strong junior and senior class that has won an ECAC championship, we have a senior class that has played in two ECAC championship games and won an ECAC championship, they've won an Ivy League title, so they've had some success.
"They haven't had success in the Beanpot, so we wanted to make sure we had a chance to play in the late game [tonight], and now our sights are on winning it."
Donato and his players will have their hands full against Boston College, which last won the title in 2004.
"We're playing a great team in BC," said Donato. "We also [expect] it to be a close, exciting game. We played them last year and it was a 2-1 game and they got an empty-netter with a minute to go to make it 3-1 [Feb. 5, 2007]. We understand they're one of the best teams in the country. We have a great deal of respect for not only this team, but for what they've accomplished over the last few years. But we're excited about the opportunity we have to go out and play our best hockey."
In Harvard's first nine games, it was an impressive 6-2-1 but then the team stumbled. The Crimson were winless in nine outings (0-7-2) from Dec. 4-Jan. 12.
"We started off real well and then we hit a tough stretch where we lost a couple of games where we really played well enough to win," said Donato. "Then we struggled and we were kind of finding ways to lose for a few games. There was a bad penalty here or there.
"There were times we were carrying the play but then giving up a couple of goals in a flurry, maybe late in the game. We hit a little bit of a tough patch and for us, our exam break came at a pretty good time where we were able to focus on something else other than hockey and kind of regroup a little bit.
"After the break, we've come back with a lot more energy as a team and we've had pretty good success, winning three out of four."
Friday night, Harvard started well against Union on the road but had to withstand a flurry at the end in a 3-2 win.
"We were up, 3-0, and they scored kind of a fluky goal from behind the goal line on a bank shot off the goalie," said Donato. "We killed off a six-on-four power play and they were six-on-five and they were able to get a guy behind us and we kind of made a bad read and they ended up with a two-on-one and a goal and then all hell broke loose.
"That's a tough place to win. They were undefeated at home [in league play before Friday] and they'd only lost one game in their last 10, so they were on a good roll, so I think that gives us a lot of confidence, too. They had only one shot in the first period and that was from outside the blue line, so we did a lot of good things. Obviously we would've liked to have closed the game stronger, but we're pretty excited about the way we're playing."
Donato said his team has been focusing on how to shut down one of the top offensive clubs in the nation in BC, particularly winger Nathan Gerbe.
"There's no question we have to focus on him," said Donato, of Gerbe, who is tied for second nationally in scoring. "He's a real dynamic guy, a real difference-maker. He's the catalyst for their offense. They have the best power play in the country and he's a big reason for that. He's got such electric speed that he can make something out of what seems like very little.
"So we'll just have to pay close attention to him. He's the guy who is, in my mind, the player of the year right now in college hockey, so we definitely have to pay special attention to him and his linemates."
Sophomore goaltender Kyle Richter believes Harvard's defense is a match for the Eagles' attack, particularly the way the squad has been playing since the break.
"We're playing great hockey right now," said Richter. "We're back to the composure that we had earlier in the year. We're just focusing on the little things, the hard work in practice and try to break everything down and stick to the systems, because that's what we do best.
"We've had some success over the last couple of weeks getting back to that system that we play, so we're looking to carry that into [tonight]."
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.
