SPORTS
THE HARVARD CRIMSON | FEBRUARY 6, 2018 | PAGE 10
Crimson Loses Thriller to BU in Beanpot Opener, 3-2 MEN’S ICE HOCKEY By SPENCER R. MORRIS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
BOSTON — A big stage. Two big teams. A big finish. None of these circumstances were the least bit surprising in Monday night’s Beanpot semifinal game between the Harvard men’s hockey team and Boston University. The bout required extra time to declare a winner, but after 23 minutes of overtime hockey, that winner was BU, courtesy of freshman forward Ty Amonte. The Terriers edged the Crimson, 3-2, and will advance to play Northeastern in next Monday’s tournament finale. With tired legs on both sides of the ice, the rookie strode into the offensive zone with the puck and fired a wrist shot short-side on tri-captain goaltender Merrick Madsen. The seemingly routine save snuck by Madsen and cued the cheers from what remained of a BU fan section. “The game was a series of momentum swings,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “I thought both teams battled, both goalies made some big saves, and as often happens in overtime, it’s not necessarily this great Picasso that ends up in the net.” Despite the ending, Madsen’s overall performance (39 SV, 2.20 GAA, .929 SV%) was solid and included some game-changing saves. Staring down the ice at the Arizona Coyotes prospect, however, freshman net-minder Jake Oettinger put forth an even sturdier effort (47 SV, 1.46 GAA, .959 SV%) for BU (15-11-2, 10-7-2 Hockey East). “Our goalie stood tall when he had to,” Terriers coach David Quinn said. “He was huge in the second period, made some big saves [on] the penalty kill and [in] the overtime.” The Crimson (10-9-4, 9-5-3 ECAC) entered this year’s Beanpot looking to defend last year’s tournament crown. With the loss, though, the program’s pursuit of its first back-to-back Beanpot victories comes to an end. The prospect of the Beanpot’s first Harvard-Northeastern final—in 66 years of the tournament—also died with Amonte’s double-overtime game-winner. “When you win, they’re a dream,” said coach Donato bluntly, when asked about intense overtime games. “We have a lot of smart kids in the [locker] room, so to come up with something after the game that isn’t shallow or madeup [is difficult]…. The stakes are huge,
and the winner moves on and the loser is heartbroken.” The two teams getting to overtime The puck dropped in the third period with the two teams even at one. Harvard was carrying play offensively, outshooting BU, 32-17, through 40 minutes. But the ice tilt didn’t stop the Terriers from seizing the lead. Just 32 seconds into the final frame, BU captain Brandon Hickey fired a shot at the Crimson’s own letter-wearer, Madsen. The net-minder gave up a juicy rebound, and a charging Hickey regained the puck before backhanding one past the goal line. Not deterred by the early tally, Harvard equalized a mere minute and a half later. Sophomore forward Nathan Krusko tapped a puck into the neutral zone and started a 3-on-2 headed toward Oettinger. Krusko, last year’s Beanpot MVP (2–1—3 in 2017 final), got the puck back after crossing into the offensive zone. His slapshot bounced up high on Oettinger, and freshman forward Jack Badini, streaking into the goal area, hammered it home. “Just having guys ready for every play after a goal they score [or] a goal we score is something we wanted to harp on at the beginning of the year,” junior forward Ryan Donato said. “Those are kind of the big shifts, right after a goal or right after a power play.” Badini was one of three freshmen between both teams to score in the contest. So much for rookies shying away from big moments. The Anaheim Ducks prospect notched his first Beanpot goal in his first tournament game. Coach Donato, though, was among the least surprised regarding Badini’s precocious play. “We’re just about at the time of year where there really aren’t any freshmen anymore,” said the bench boss last week. “At least the teams that are going to have success are not worried about whether the guy is a freshman or not.” Play soon settled down, and despite solid chances both ways, the teams’ skated to a tie through regulation, setting the stage for Amonte’s eventual game-winner. Coming into the overtime classic, the Terriers were enjoying their best hockey of the season. Winners of its last five and unbeaten in its last seven before the tilt, BU has resurrected its season after playing a portion of the campaign below .500. Due to the recent favorable results, BU was knocking on the door of Monday morning’s USCHO top-20 rank-
HANDSHAKES AND HEARTBREAK Harvard and BU line up after the double-overtime marathon. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
ings, receiving the most votes among teams not on the big board. Between the Terriers’ recent hot stretch and their desire to avenge last year’s final defeat, the Crimson faced a plenty-motivated squad. Another important win in the Beanpot semifinal may vault the squad back into the poll. Unlike in the teams’ 2017 Beanpot meeting, BU opened the scoring in Monday’s tilt. Harvard sophomore John Marino went to the box for crosschecking Terriers freshman Brady Tkachuk, and BU cashed in on the subsequent power play. Eight minutes into the opening frame, rookie forward Logan Cockerill saw a puck bounce out to the left of Madsen and wasted no time putting his fourth of the season past the tri-captain. The power play proved futile once again for Harvard, as coach Donato’s group went 0-for-3 with the man-advantage against the Terriers. The team has now gone scoreless on the power play in four straight games, going
0-for-14 over that time. Even strength, the Crimson looked more dominant. Despite entering the middle frame trailing by a goal, Harvard continued to throw everything it had on Oettinger. After an ambitious 28 shot attempts (12 SOG) in the first, the team continued more of the same in the second stanza, only this time getting more pucks through the defense and on cage. Of its 32 attempts that period, the Crimson hit the target 20 times. “For us, it was a tale of two games,” said coach Quinn, lauding Harvard’s dominance in the middle portion of the bout. “Our first period was okay, the second period might have been as bad a period as we’ve played all year. We talked in between the second and third periods. We felt very fortunate that it was a 1-1 hockey game.” Eventually, the surge of offense was too much for Oettinger and the Terriers blue line. 35 minutes into the game, Harvard’s Ty, he of the Pelton-Byce variety, evened the contest with a top-
shelf wrister. Donato emerged from a board-battle with puck at the right circle. The Scituate, Mass., native turned goalward, where Oettinger was waiting with squared shoulders. Despite his reputation as a sniper, Donato fed PeltonByce in the high slot, and a quick release from the sophomore found twine. The goal marked Pelton-Byce’s first career Beanpot point. Donato now says goodbye to his team—albeit temporarily—and ships off to PyeongChang, South Korea, to represent team USA in the Winter Olympics. One of the Crimson’s main tasks moving forward will be maintaining offensive firepower without the team’s centerpiece. Monday’s affair marks the second time in four seasons that Harvard has gone to double overtime with BU. In 2015, the Crimson fell, 4-3, to the Terriers in the second frame of extra time. Staff writer Spencer R. Morris can be reached at spencer.morris@thecrimson.com.
Harvard Edges Out Cornell on Road in Tight Victory
ZERO PRISONERS Sophomore forward Chris Lewis boxes out to rebound a free throw against Cornell. HENRY ZHU—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
MEN’S BASKETBALL By HENRY ZHU CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
ITHACA, N.Y.—Despite holding the lead for less than nine minutes on Saturday night, the Harvard men’s basketball team narrowly edged out Cornell 76-73 to conclude its six-game road trip. A perfect 10-for-10 mark at the free throw line in the second half and balanced scoring that saw four members of the Crimson (10-11, 5-1 Ivy League) finish in double figures were critical in the tight victory. Harvard’s backcourt, led by sophomore guards Christian Juzang and Justin Bassey, effectively contained Big Red star Matt Morgan, who finished with less than 20 total points for the first time since Jan. 13 against Princeton. However, a stellar shooting night from junior forward Stone Gettings proved to be a much larger
headache for the Crimson. Gettings knocked down half of his field goals and three-point shots for a game-high 32 points. Although Cornell (8-11, 2-4) shot inconsistently at the charity stripe in front of the home crowd —finishing the contest 10-of-18 —its leading scorer had converted on all of his free throw attempts going into the final minute of action. Down by three with 40 seconds to play, Big Red forward Josh Warren threw an overhead pass towards Gettings, who promptly attacked the rim and converted on the and-one. Shouldered with the most critical free throw of the contest, Gettings was unable to maintain the steady hand that he had held for most of the game. The free throw clanked off the back iron, preserving a one-point Harvard lead. From there, the Crimson converted on its free throws and held on for the three-point victory. “It’s always tough playing on the
road in the league, so coming in we knew it was going to be a tough one like it was last night,” sophomore forward Seth Towns said. “Last two minutes, it was the same as it always is in crunch time. Just coming out with the W, just being in the moment and getting it done.” Unlike its most recent Ivy League games, Harvard fell behind early and had to climb its way back into the contest before intermission. Sophomore forward Chris Lewis and freshman forward Danilo Djuricic were the sole offensive contributors in the game’s first eight minutes, combining for 12 points. Defensively, the Crimson’s perimeter defensive gaps resulted in four made threes for the Big Red, three of which came from Gettings. Down 23-16 at the 9:30 mark of the first half, Harvard coach Tommy Amaker inserted sophomore forward Robert Baker into the lineup. The 6’11” stretch big had been sidelined
since Jan. 6 at Dartmouth, but quickly shook off any rust he may have held. Baker converted on a lay-up within 20 seconds of checking in and snatched a takeaway in the paint two defensive possessions later. In nine minutes of action, the sophomore tallied four points, four rebounds, and one block. “We were a little gassed and tired and the guys [that] came off the bench… we need all those bodies to help us and to have positive minutes,” Amaker said. “In particular Robert, a shot in the arm off the bench.” Soon after Baker checked out of the game at the five-minute mark, a corner three from Juzang evened the game at 30. Towns, who was coming off a career-high 31 points against Columbia, provided another jolt of energy for the Crimson after a previously quiet start. The Columbus, Ohio native widened the margin to five, Harvard’s largest lead of the first half, after converting on a triple followed immediately by a deuce. Towns executed a plethora of ball-handling moves to open up shooting space, a facet of the game that he has developed extensively in his collegiate career. Both teams shot over 45 percent in the first half and had nearly identical rebounding and assist numbers. Compared to last night’s three-point bonanza in Morningside Heights in which the Crimson attempted 37 triples, the team was more selective from deep range on Saturday night. Harvard converted seven of 12 three pointers in the first half, and limited itself to 23 total attempts at a 47.8 percent clip. Similar to Friday’s outing, the Crimson emerged from halftime lackadaisical on both ends of the court. The Big Red spurred a 13-6 run in the first four minutes to build a 51-46 lead. Cornell coach Brian Earl borrowed from the Columbia defensive playbook, engaging a full-court press on Amaker’s squad. Harvard handed the ball over twice in the first two minutes and struggled to adjust to the high-octane pace from the Big Red. “It’s not like we haven’t seen [press defense] before or practiced against it, but we’ve been very tentative,” Amaker said. “I think I mentioned that last night and again tonight. We’ve just were not as aggressive going against it as we should be and we have some work to do.” Bassey was able to break the team’s
shooting slumps with a triple at the 15:33 mark, but the make was soon matched by strong interior play from several of Cornell’s bigs. Warren particularly had success inside with Lewis on the bench, outmuscling Djuricic for an easy basket at the rim, slightly missing on a layup, and drawing a shooting foul on Djuricic in consecutive possessions leading up to the frame’s second media timeout. Despite the challenging defensive matchup, Djuricic had another impressive night coming off of Amaker’s bench. In 27 minutes, the freshman was three-of-five from deep while adding two blocks. This game marks the third straight contest in which Djuricic has converted on at least one triple. After another scoring slump from both teams leading up to the nine-minute mark, the Crimson was re-energized by a lay-up off the left backboard from Lewis followed by a three from junior wing Corey Johnson, bringing its deficit to one point. The ensuing minutes were largely a back-and-forth affair, with the Big Red unable to extend its lead beyond four. Harvard, down one point with three minutes remaining, took advantage of a missed bonus free throw from Morgan and regained the lead off of a Djuricic three. A minute later, Towns followed with a triple of his own from the top of the arc to extend the margin to 72-69. “It was a big shot,” Towns said. “I had faith in it and I know my teammates did, but it was just a big shot for us. We weren’t going in those last five minutes offensively like we wanted to so just a shot like that, from anybody… I would’ve been just as enthusiastic.” Accurate free throw shooting completed the Crimson’s successful fight back into the contest, a theme that has been prevalent throughout the season. After tonight’s win, the team’s season free throw percentage stands at 75.7 percent, second in the Ivy League behind Brown. “I just thought that we showed great composure and were incredibly efficient down the stretch offensively,” Amaker said. “Big shots by Seth and Danillo and tremendous free throw shooting down the stretch, very, very proud of that.” Staff writer Henry Zhu can be reached at henry. zhu@thecrimson.com.