Women Pucksters Blanked By B.U. In Ice Hockey Season Opener, 4-0

"We have our work cut out for us," assistant women's ice hockey coach Holly Rath said after Boston University shut out Harvard, 4-0, in the Crimson's season opener at the Walter Brown arena last night.

The main focus of that work will be finding the right combinations to put the puck in the net, something the Crimson failed to do against a big, more polished Terrier squad which evened its record at 2-2 with the win.

In the first period Harvard looked nervous, not waking up until the second shift of each line. Before the skaters got untracked, B.U. captain Julie Devine jammed the puck past Yardling goalie Cheryl Tate.

Terrier defensemen Deb Patsky set up the first tally by leading a rush up the left side and taking a slapshot which Tate deflected aside, but Devine was in position to poke the rebound into the net to give B.U. a 1-0 lead with just three minutes gone in the period.

The Terriers maintained momentum as the Crimson could not control the puck and managed only aimless clearing passes to center ice. B.U.'s first line clicked three minutes later when Jeffy Kowels beat Tate with a 15-foot wrist shot into the upper right hand corner of the twines.

Terrier defensemen Tracy Smith intercepted an errant Harvard pass at the red line, sped down the right boards and fed the cutting Kowels for the score.

The Crimson defense buckled down to contain the aggressive B.U. offense for the next 25 minutes. Freshman Deb Taft played brilliantly on defense, consistently controlling the puck on her shift.

With 1:45 remaining in the first stanza, Taft kept Harvard from falling three goals behind. The yardling alertly cleared the puck with netminder Tate out of the goal after a sprawling save of Terrier captain Nancy Kilik's slap shot.

Taft also teamed with co-captain Lauren Norton, wing Sara Fischer, and fellow blueliner Amy Spaulding to kill B.U.'s power play after co-captain Firkins Reed went to the penalty box for tripping at 6:05.

Confident

The Crimson skated confidently in the second period, playing the Terriers even, but despite threatening, failed to score. The line of Norton between Fischer and Dianne Hurley executed well together, pressuring B.U. goalie Cheryl Burke.

The trio almost clicked on the second Terrier penalty at 7:55. Fischer stole the puck along the boards at center ice, broke up the middle on a 3-on-2 rush, and passed to Hurley trailing on left wing. The freshman unleashed a slapshot which Burke kicked aside at the last second. Norton, positioned perfectly for the rebound, could not lift her shot over the sprawling Burke.

Neither of the Crimson's other two lines could sustain a potent attack. Coach Rita Harer had Alex Lightfoot between Julie Starr and Sue Yunick while Reed centered Vicki Palmer and Mara MacTaggart. Despite strong individual performances by the forwards, Harvard lacked the stickhandling to penetrate.

The final period opened inauspiciously when Terrier captains Devine and Kilik combined to give B.U. an insurmountable 3-0 lead just 28 seconds after the opening faceoff. Kilik fed Devine from the corner, and the latter poked it by Tate for her second goal of the night.

Tate, in her first varsity appearance, played well considering her first-game jitters. The yardling's quick glove hand and kick saves stymied 19 Terrier blasts, but twice her stick saves did not clear adequately and resulted in B.U. goals.