Sports

Proud to cover Harvard for 143 years and counting.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

SPORTS

THIS WEEKEND’S SCORES

MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. BU W, 18-17 ___________________________________________________________ WOMEN’S HEAVYWEIGHT CREW VS. YALE L ___________________________________________________________ FOOTBALL VS. UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT L, 42, 36 ___________________________________________________________ FENCING NEW ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIP 15TH ___________________________________________________________ WOMEN’S SWIMMING IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHP 2ND ___________________________________________________________ GOLF VS. PRINCETON W ___________________________________________________________ MEN’S WRESTLING VS. PENN STATE L, 42, 36 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S BASKETBALL Men’s Basketball Knocks Off Yale in Bounce-Back

By HENRY ZHU CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

After a lethargic Friday night defeat to Brown, the Crimson had nothing standings-wise to compete for against Yale. Regardless of the outcome, Harvard would play in the 2-3 contest next Saturday in the Ivy Tournament.

But Saturday night’s rivalry contest against Yale was about so much more for these players — pride, self-confidence, and respectability. That message was expressed in the upstairs film room on Saturday morning, where team co-captain Henry Welsh gave a spirited speech to his team.

“Henry gave a great speech talking about what this game meant to him and how important it was, making sure that we are not letting any opportunities pass us by,” senior guard Justin Bassey said, “That really got us fired up and ready to bring our best effort today.”

Coach Tommy Amaker’s words this morning also resonated with the team, who responded impassionately Saturday night in a 83-69 rout of the Bulldogs.

The Crimson’s energy permeated noticeably on the defensive end, where Harvard’s Robert Baker and Chris Ledlum combined for six rejections.

A bevy of steals — seven to be exact — contributed to 10 fast-break points, highlighted by a Top-10 worthy 360 slam by first-year Chris Ledlum in the second half.

“I definitely think it was [Coach Amaker] putting that fire back under us this morning,” junior guard Rio Haskett said. “He really dug into us a little bit. We watched film and we just looked like, that’s not us. We don’t know what it was, whether us young guys didn’t take it seriously enough for the seniors…. And it started on defense, once our defense is going, I think our offense just feeds off of that.”

With four of its top guards in suits — including sophomore Noah Kirkwood who was ruled out by the medical staff tonight according to Coach Amaker — the Crimson went deeper into its bench, giving sophomore Kale Catchings his first valuable minutes of the season.

First-years Luka Sakota and Idan Tretout also earned increased playing time, complementing starters Rio Haskett and Chris Ledlum.

Tretout and Haskett both finished in double figures with 11 and 14 points, respectively with Bassey leading the team with 19 points.

“I thought we brought a sense of urgency here,” Amaker said, “We had to beat a very good team, and we did — I thought we did in convincing fashion….I thought we had a great team performance and you can see how the numbers reflect that with playing as many guys as we did.”

Yale’s Azar Swain, who torched the Crimson with 33 points in the prior outing, was limited to a 3-of-11 night for 13 points, while senior Jordan Bruner was quieted to a fourpoint game. The two teams matched up evenly in the opening frame, but a surge of momentum beginning with a Lewis fast-break dunk with about seven to play provided the defensive spark Harvard badly needed. Baker’s four blocks all came in that energetic span of four minutes.

“A lot of [Baker’s] blocks, he’s not just sending it to the stands,” Bassey said. “He’s blocking it and someone’s coming up with it or someone else is grabbing it. That allows us to get up the floor and get it quick.”

Harvard built up a double-digit lead within the first two minutes of the second frame, seeing easy opportunities at the rim. Sophomore Mason Forbes was the beneficiary of two alley-oops, while Haskett drained two deep triples to extend the Harvard lead to 17. Shooting 3-of-4 on the night from long range and a career-best 38.8 percent this season, Haskett has quickly become a crucial contributor on the offensive side for the Crimson.

“Over the summer, Coach told me to work on my shot and work on my form,” Haskett said. “So that’s really all I worked on, it was really just my guide hand...he said if I’m open and I catch that ball, shoot — don’t think about it.”

A series of layups at the rim by Yale’s Paul Atkinson — who finished with a team-high 23 points — kept the Bulldogs within striking distance, but the contest was all but decided heading into the final media timeout with the Crimson leading by 18.

Harvard concluded the contest with 12 assists and a 69.6 field goal completion rate in the second frame.

“Tonight is one of those ones where you can really put in the bank and refer back to at some point, and talk about and use it,” Amaker said. “Get them to completely buy in or believe in it. It’s a constant ongoing process. But you need these moments that when they’ve done it and they’ve done it well… it serves its purpose down the road.”

Harvard will play Princeton in the Ivy Tournament semifinals next Saturday at 2 p.m. Outside of Friday night’s loss to Brown, the Crimson have not lost at Lavietes Pavilion.

It needs two more wins at home — potentially the second one a rematch against the Bulldogs — to go dancing.

henry.zhu@thecrimson.com RIO’S GAME Junior guard Rio Haskett knocked down three triples and finished in double digits Saturday. His play was integral to the Crimson’s victory over the Bulldogs. Harvard will now face Princeton in the Ivy League semifinals on Saturday. TIMOTHY R, O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER BAKER’S DEFENSE Senior forward Robert Baker earned four rejections on Saturday night against Yale. His defense was critical to limiting the Bulldogs to just 69 points. TIMOTHY R, O’MEARA— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

SPORTS

THIS WEEKEND’S SCORES WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AT YALE L 60-58 ___________________________________________________________ BASEBALL VS. OHIO ST. L 13-1 ___________________________________________________________ WOMENS LACROSSE VS. VILLANOVA W 16-5 ___________________________________________________________ WOMEN’S TENNIS VS. RHODE ISLAND W 7-0 ___________________________________________________________ MEN’S ICE HOCKEY VS ST. LAWRENCE W 7-1 ___________________________________________________________ WOMEN’S WATER POLO VS. CAL STATE EAST BAY W 16-15 ___________________________________________________________

MEN’S ICE HOCKEY Men’s Ice Hockey Surges Past St. Lawrence, 7-1

By STUTI R. TELIDEVARA CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Come Saturday’s Game Two between the Harvard men’s hockey team and St. Lawrence, one team had everything to play for. The Saints, down by one game in this best-of-three series, would need to win to keep their series alive. Certainly the visitors had controlled stretches of play in the first game, though the Crimson emerged victorious. Ultimately, however, the course of this second contest would be very different from the one before it.

Where Friday night was a more closely-contested game, Harvard (15-10-6, 11-6-5 ECAC) jumped out to a lead early on Saturday and never looked back, besting St. Lawrence (4- 27-5, 2-19-2) by a score of 7-1. Two powerplay tallies and five different goal-scorers powered the hosts’ effort, earning the Crimson a 2-0 series victory and a trip to the ECAC quarterfinals.

“We’re excited to be able to move on,” head coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “Today we were able to get off to a good start and create some separation, [and] made some pretty skilled plays… I give a lot of credit to St. Lawrence… There’s no easy playoff series in this league.”

The St. Lawrence coaching staff made a change between the pipes after the Game One loss. Senior Daniel Mannella (3.07 GAA, .906 SV%) started instead of rookie Francis Boisvert (3.50 GAA, .897 SV%). Mannella was in net for both of the Saints’ clashes against Harvard this season, and so had seen his team win and lose to Harvard heading into Saturday’s contest. “We had a good week of preparation,” junior defenseman Reilly Walsh said. “Honestly, losing to them [on Feb. 21] probably was a really good experience for us... We adjusted in practice and knew we were going to have to beat their forecheck, and I thought we did a really good job of that.”

Around the halfway mark of the first period, Harvard began to really pressure the visitors. After several strong shifts and a powerplay opportunity, the play of an unusual defensive pair — sophomore Jack Rathbone and rookie Jace Foskey —

HUGE WIN In a two-game sweep of St. Lawrence, the Crimson punched its ticket to the second round of the ECAC playoffs. Harvard will face Rensselaer in a best-of-three series . TIMOTHY R, O’MEARA—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

gave the hosts the first goal of the night.

Key keep-ins at the blue line prevented the Saints from clearing the zone, and Foskey teed up a point shot that sophomore Baker Shore redirected behind the net-minder. Foskey’s assist was his first collegiate point. Another Rathbone play extended Harvard’s lead at the 17th minute of the first frame. The blue-liner threaded a pass to junior forward Henry Bowlby, who had snuck past the St. Lawrence defense. Skating in alone, Bowlby chipped the puck past Mannella for the 2-0 lead. “I don’t think we gave them as many chances, where we kind of handed them breakaways and outnumbered chances,” coach Donato said. “We managed the puck a little bit better. Obviously making some plays early was helpful, to get the lead. Just to get the positive vibe on the bench is always helpful.” The first-period action had not come to a close yet, however. At the 18-minute mark, Saints junior co-captain Dylan Woolf was whistled for boarding Harvard junior Jack Badini behind the St. Lawrence net. While Badini was quick to get back on his skates, the referees assessed Woolf a major penalty and a game misconduct — meaning that Harvard would have some powerplay time to end the first as well as to begin the second period. It didn’t take long for Harvard to find twine on the man advantage. Walsh received a pass in the slot just as the Saints penalty-killers gave way in front of the net, giving Walsh a good look at the goal. His sneaky wrister made its way past Mannella. When the teams left the ice, Harvard found itself with a comfortable three-goal lead.

“We were just a little more ready to go,” said Walsh, comparing Saturday’s start to Friday’s. “I think we knew that we had an opportunity to put the game away in the first period… We saw an opening to get a lead after one [frame] and I thought we...finished some opportunities, unlike yesterday.”

The powerplay wasn’t done scoring yet — and neither was Walsh. In the remaining three minutes of 5-on-4, Harvard continued to hem St. Lawrence in its own zone. A cross-crease feed from sophomore Jack Drury made its way onto Walsh’s stick, and the junior tapped it home. The two-spot is Walsh’s first of this season, and marks his first two-goal game since the 2018-19 season opener.

After Harvard added a fifth goal, courtesy of Drury, the Saints proved they would not go quietly. An interference penalty put the visitors on the powerplay. Towards the end of the two minutes, sophomore forward Kaden Pickering tapped in a feed from senior Alex Gilmour, breaking Harvard net-minder Mitchell Gibson’s shutout bid. Nevertheless, the rookie goaltender backstopped his team to a 2-0 series victory, turning away all but one of St. Lawrence’s shots. Harvard added two more tallies, from Drury again and rookie John Farinacci, for a comfortable 7-1 lead late in the third.

“I thought [Gibson] looked in control,” coach Donato said. “Last night I thought he played well, but the game was a little bit choppy, defensively, for us... But I thought he was solid tonight and gave us a good effort.”

With two senior goaltenders on the bench, the Harvard coaching staff pulled Gibson so that Cameron Gornet and Sihak Lee could have a few minutes of ice time each in their last home game.

“It was pretty special,” coach Donato said. “[Lee], as a third goalie, maybe doesn’t get as much love and attention as far as playing time, but certainly has a lot of value in the sacrifice he makes to...work with guys... I wanted to make sure that Cam Gornet was in the net, as a senior, at the end of the game. He’s played some very important games for us, he’s been a tremendous teammate.”

If Harvard wants to keep up its streak of Lake Placid appearances, it will have to get through another best-of-three series, however.

The team will visit RPI for an ECAC quarterfinal matchup with a score to settle — a loss to the Engineers in the last weekend of the regular season put Harvard out of the running for the conference four-seed and a first-round bye.

“We’re really excited,” said Drury of the second-round matchup. “It’s a good atmosphere at that rink… We know they’re going to be fired up.”

stuti.telidevara@thecrimson.com