And finally, freshman Dawid Rechul will represent the Crimson at heavyweight. Rechul has been nothing less than remarkable this season, fighting tooth and nail with wrestlers that are more experienced, not to mention a lot heavier.
The tournament lasts two full days and will work by double elimination. The top two wrestlers from each weight class are guaranteed spots at Nationals. Six wildcard tickets are given to other top wrestlers in the tournament, without regard to weight class.
"We prepare everyone to win Easterns as an individual so as a team we can win," Coach Weiss said. "We are the most prepared we have been as a team. It will be neat to watch it all unfold." The season hung in the balance when the Harvard men's hockey team last battled Vermont and Dartmouth. Still winless in the ECAC at that time, the Crimson had its first sliver of momentum after a sweep in Omaha. If Harvard was to enter the conference playoff picture, it had to win right then and there. And it did, taking both games. Now, the season hangs in the balance again for Harvard (11-14-2, 6-12-2 ECAC) as it prepares to host Vermont (13-14-2, 7-11-2) and Dartmouth (10-16-1, 6-13-1) for the final two games of the regular season. Pure and simple, if the Crimson wants to qualify for the playoffs, it has to win a game. A pair of losses will almost guarantee the first premature end to hockey in Cambridge since the 1980-81 campaign. "As a senior, it would be nice to go out with a sweep," senior defenseman Ben Storey said. "We need to win at least one game, but we know we can sweep because we've done it before." The sweep would earn more for the Crimson than a playoff spot. It would vaunt Harvard into eighth place and avoid a first round match-up against Clarkson or St. Lawrence. The North Country teams have swept the season series with Harvard. Up until last weekend, Harvard had been among the hottest teams in the ECAC. Its earlier sweep of the Catamounts and the Big Green sparked an excellent 1999. The Crimson had posted a 6-2-1 conference record in the new year. At the forefront of the Crimson resurgence has been the superb play of junior goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo. Over his previous 12 games he registered a .916 save percentage and a 2.46 GAA. Prestifilippo made a critical mistake last Friday against St. Lawrence, however, giving up the tying goal with 33 seconds remaining on a shot from behind the blue line. The junior netminder rebounded with a solid outing against Clarkson and will have to be at his usual best this weekend. "The team is so supportive it wasn't hard to put St. Lawrence behind me," Prestifilippo said. "Without urgency to win games, I have no time to think about past mistakes." The goals tend to pile up whenever the Crimson plays the Catamounts. The red light has turned on 33 times in their past three match-ups-Harvard has won the last two contests 7-6. Read more in SportsSports
