November 2, 2009:

Harvard Hosts Club Hockey Beanpot

Crimson deals with obstacles of new team

Hopes of stealing the show last week at the 2nd Annual Club Hockey Beanpot were dashed as Harvard struggled to overcome the complication that come from new coaches, new faces, and better competition.  The inaugural season started just a few days earlier when Middlesex Community College visited the Bright.  Optimism ran high when Danny Nally (Oberbeck, Rinaldi) put home a rebound just 43 seconds into the game.  Yet, with only a couple of practices under their belt, the Crimson were edged out in the end 3-2 despite goaltender Kylie Stephens making an uncountable number of saves.  With no practices in between, the team tried to understand its mistakes on the chalkboard before playing the Eagles, who had made a quest to the ACHA National Tournament last year.  Falling behind early, Harvard came back with goals from Nally (J. Smith, B. Smith) and Rinaldi (Oberbeck, R. Burke) to tie the game in the third.  The team suffered from 4 power play goals in the second half of the third as Boston College advanced to face and defeat Northeastern in the championship game.  The Crimson were again victimized on the penalty kill two days later by a very good Boston University special teams.  Freshman Ryan Byrne netted Harvard’s only goal in the 5-1 loss.  Harvard Club Hockey would like to thank all Gary Brown, Jeremy Gibson, Tim Wheaton, Scott Anderson, and Diane Metcalf for making the tournament possible as well as all of the fans who came to support the four teams.