Harvard coming to U off big win

Senior winger and co-captain Tony Lucia and junior forward Jacob Cepis, the newest Gopher, subbed for Don Lucia, the Gophers coach, on Monday on his weekly radio show.

Lucia and Cepis both said they didn't know much about their next opponent, Harvard.

""Not much," Lucia said. "We haven't really had a chance to switch gears and check out their numbers."

"We don't really know much about them," Cepis said. ""It's a good school, I guess."

"Smart players," Lucia said.

Harvard is 2-8-2, but is coming off a huge win. The Crimson shocked then-No. 8 Quinnipiac 3-1 on Dec. 29 to break a 10-game winless streak. The Crimson was outshot 37-23, but junior goalie Kyle RIchter made 36 saves.

Two freshmen scored their first goals -- Luke Greiner and David Valek -- while a third Louis Leblanc got his fourth.

Most of Harvard's players are from Connecticut and Massachusetts. But there are two other freshmen forwards with Minnesota ties on team besides Greiner. Marshall Everson is from Edina. Alex Fallstrom is from Sweden but played at Shattuck.

Junior forward Mike Biega leads Harvard in scoring with four goals and eight asists for 12 points. Two younger brothers of his also play for the Crimson. Leblanc (4-6-10) is second in scoring. Harvard has a solid power play, scoring at a 22.9 percent pace, but the Crimson have had trouble holding opponents down. Foes average 3.9 goals per game. They have scored 10 goals in the first period, 14 in the second and 22 in the third so the Crimson appear to wear down.

FACEOFFS A CONCERN

"it is not just the center's job to win faceoffs," Lucia said. "A lot of times they try and tie up and have wingers come in and help out. It's definitely a joint effort. A lot of it can fall on the centers because it is their job not to lose it cleanly.

" But the coaching staff, they give us tips and pointers as to what to do. And they definitely -- the centers after practice work on their draws all the time. Even though the draws didn't go like we wanted them to, It's not because we are not trying and it's not because we are not practicing at it."

"We got to win draws, especially in those key areas in the defensive zone when teams are winning the puck back and scoring on faceoffs," Cepis said. "We really got to bear down."

MORE TONY LUCIA QUOTES

* On why Gophers have struggled in first game of series much of this season: "We took care of business [last weekend] on Saturday. It took a while to get us going. But that comes a bit with coming after a break, getting our first game, getting our feet wet. And also Bowling Green is a good defensive team, so it took us some time to get going.

"But I don't know what to say about the rest of the season. We have been looking for answers the whole time, and sometimes it just comes down to our work ethic. When we bring that to the table, everything will take care of itself."

* On teammate Jordan Schroeder becoming all-time scoring leader for U.S. team in World Junior Championships: "We are excited for him. He is obviously a very talented player. That;s quite a milestone to reach and to hold a record like that."

"There are a few drills where we just have a bunch of pucks laying around in front, and just kind of smashing at pucks around the net with one other defender and just trying to get pucks through. It's more of a will and a want to rather than a talent. When you are banging pucks in front of the net, it's not pretty goals. It's more just luck, it's is getting there and digging in harder than the guy defending you."