Geordie Hyland joins McCarthy as the second senior defensemen. These two veterans will be essential to the success of the Harvard defense by providing a steadying influence on three freshman blueliners the team will feature. Tim Stay, Grahm Morel, and Liam McCarthy will all see major playing time this year. All three have played exceptionally well in the preseason and will need to contribute to the team.
In addition, good defensemen make good penalty killers. Harvard should be able to prevent their opponents from clicking with the man advantage especially with the seniors holding the fort.
"Our defense will be very good." Tommasoni said. "I have no worries about this group."
Goaltending
The goaltending situation for Harvard could not be better. The team has not only an exceptional starting goaltender, but also two talented backups. Depth and skill make this the team's strongest position.
Starting goaltender sophomore J.R. Prestifilippo is coming off an outstanding rookie season where he earned the ECAC Rookie of the Year Award with a 3.18 goals against average. He single-handedly kept Harvard in many games last year that could have been blowouts. He has exceptional poise had reflexes in net, and a season of experience in the ECAC pressure cooker can do nothing but help him this year.
With Prestifilippo, the old goaltender's motto holds,"If he see's it, he stops it."
"J.R. is an exceptional goaltender," Tommasoni said. "Not only is he talented, he is very committed and wants to win. He's a leader."
If Prestifilippo ever falters, or becomes injured, Harvard has two strong reserves ready to step in. Junior Mike Ginal returns to back up Prestifilippo once again and the Crimson also added freshman Oliver Jonas from Germany. By all accounts, Jonas shows amazing promise in goal.
Overall
The additional maturity should help the Crimson this season. The defects of the team last year were magnified by the competition, as many teams had veteran rosters with senior stars like Todd White of Clarkson, Mike Carter from Colgate, and the Vermont boys: Martin St. Louis, Eric Perrin and Tim Murphy. The effects of graduation should, in turn, magnify Harvard's gains this year.
Yet, one can discuss the advantages of experience forever, but the Crimson can not win unless somebody puts the puck in the back of the net. Harvard clearly has players who can produce--Millar, Higdon, Sproule, Adams--they just need to do it.
These players' output needs to and should improve as they all have rededicated themselves to putting points on the board. Whether or not they do so will decide the ultimate fate of Harvard's season.
The Crimson's defense and Prestifilippo should keep Harvard in most of the games it plays. However, if the back line must play a tight defensive game each night, by the end of the season the team will run out of gas.
Yet, if the team produces offensively then they can go far. Repeating the magnificent run through the playoffs of two years ago is not out of the question.
"We're very optimistic on our chances," Tommasoni said. "We're good in goal and solid on defense. If we can score on a consistent basis, there is no limit to what we can achieve."