Men's Hockey Closes Beanpot Against Northeastern

Rence Coassin recorded an assist in Saturday's game at No. 8 Yale (photo courtesy Gil Talbot).

Game Notes (PDF) | Follow on Twitter | Official Beanpot Site | NESN Coverage | Frozen Four Skills Challenge

In the News
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Adams '99 closing in on 100 points

Game On
Playing its third game in four days, Harvard takes on Northeastern in the consolation game of the 58th annual Beanpot tournament Monday at 5 p.m. at TD Garden. The Crimson is seeking its third win against the Huskies in the last five Beanpots.

Follow From Home
WHRB-FM 95.3 and WHRB.org will have live audio of the game, while GoCrimson.com will link to live statistics. Fans can also get updates from the game on the HarvardCrimson Twitter page.

Behind the Bench
Former Crimson captain, NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player and 13-year National Hockey League veteran Ted Donato '91 is in his sixth season as The Robert D. Ziff '88 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Ice Hockey. He owns an 88-81-20 record, three ECAC title-game appearances and two NCAA tournament bids.

Last Weekend
Harvard scored three power-play goals and killed 10 of Brown's 11 penalties in a 5-2 win Friday in the 156th installment in college hockey's oldest rivalry. Doug Rogers (Watertown, Mass.) recorded two goals and an assist. Sam Bozoian (St. Charles, Mo.) scored the winning goal and assisted on a tally by Louis Leblanc (Kirkland, Que.). Alex Biega (Montreal, Que.), Alex Killorn (Montreal, Que.) and Chad Morin (Auburn, N.Y.) also had two-point games for Crimson.

In Saturday's game at No. 8 Yale, Chris Huxley (Weymouth, Mass.) scored in the second period and Alex Killorn tallied 22 seconds into the third to bring Harvard back from a two-goal deficit, but the Bulldogs notched four third-period goals to pull away to a 6-3 win. Ryan Grimshaw (Rochester, N.Y.) also scored for the Crimson. Ryan Carroll (Hackensack, N.J.), who stopped 27 shots Friday, made 41 saves Saturday.

A Weekend of Firsts
Sam Bozoian registered the first goal and first assist of his career in Friday's win at Brown. Linemate Rence Coassin (Hamden, Conn.) recorded his first career point a night later at Yale. Coassin, playing just a few miles from his hometown, assisted on Ryan Grimshaw's third-period goal.

Senior Leadership
All five of Harvard's senior skaters were in the lineup for the first time this season at Brown. The Class of 2010 led the way on the scoresheet, combining for three goals, four assists and a +4 rating. Doug Rogers scored Harvard's opening goal with assists from Alex Biega and Chad Morin.

In the Semifinals
No. 14 Boston College took advantage of 17 Harvard penalties to defeat the Crimson, 6-0, Feb. 1 in the Beanpot semifinals. Kyle Richter (Calgary, Alta.) made 33 saves for Harvard. Carl Sneep led the Eagles with a goal and two assists.

Hall Call
Fran Toland, who served as associate athletics director at Harvard for 41 years, was inducted into the Beanpot Hall of Fame in a ceremony in between games of last week's first round.

Vote for Alex
Alex Biega is among the candidates for a chance to compete in the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge April 9 in Detroit. He is a nominee for the men's East squad. To aid in the selection process, fans can vote for Biega and the other candidates on NCAA.com.

Crimson Calendar
With the switch to a new academic calendar this year, the Crimson's exam break moved from January to December, but Harvard's success following exams is nothing new. Under Ted Donato, Harvard is 36-10-8 in post-exam league games and 17-3-5 in post-Beanpot league games. The Crimson is unbeaten (11-0-4) in its last 15 post-Beanpot league games and is 19-0-0 in Feburary home games under Ted Donato.

Leading the Crimson
Louis Leblanc paces Harvard with 10 goals and 19 points in 20 games, Michael Biega has 17 points and a team-high 12 assists.

Leading the Nation
Louis Leblanc is the nation's top freshman goal-scorer with 0.50 goals per game. He ranks fourth among rookies with 0.95 points per game.

Who's Hot?
Doug Rogers, who missed the Beanpot opener with an injury, has five points (3-2-5) in his last four games.

Rolling in Goal
Ryan Carroll has a .943 save percentage, 2.08 goals-against average and 4-2-0 record in his last eight appearances. He has started Harvard's last seven league games. Carroll, who made 42 saves in his first career start in last season's Beanpot consolation loss to BC, ranks 12th nationally with a .920 save percentage and owns a 2.74 goals-against average.

Series History
Harvard and Northeastern's last 10 meetings have come in the Beanpot. The teams have split those games, with the Crimson winning two of the last three. They have faced off for third place in the Beanpot 19 times, with Harvard going 10-9 in those matchups.

The Crimson and Huskies first met Dec. 4, 1940, a 7-4 NU win. Harvard won seven of the next nine meetings and later posted series win streaks of 10 games (1959-63) and 16 games (1967-76). The teams met for one ECAC title while Northeastern was a member of the conference, with the Huskies prevailing, 5-2, in the 1982 league title game.

Scouting the Huskies
Since opening the season with an impressive road split at Colorado College, Northeastern has had an up-and-down season without a winning or losing streak of more than two games. The Huskies have won three of their last four, rebounding from a 2-1 Beanpot semifinal loss to Boston University with a 5-1 victory against Merrimack Friday.

Kyle Kraemer and Wade MacLeod share the team lead with 20 points each. Kraemer has a team-high 10 goals, while MacLeod and Tyler McNeely share the NU assists lead with 11 apiece. The departure of All-American Brad Thiessen after last season left Northeastern without an experienced goaltender. Chris Rawlings has stepped in, making 22 starts with a .912 save percentage, 2.75 goals-against average and 11-10-1 record.

Click here for full Harvard men's hockey game notes in PDF format.