W. Hockey Splits Two Games

After returning from a whirlwind Christmas tour of Europe, the women's hockey team returned to Bright Hockey Center this weekend, splitting two games.

On Saturday, the Crimson (6-4 overall, 2-2 Ivy) fell to Cornell. 3-1. Harvard rebounded Sunday to topple RIT, 5-1.

In the first game, Harvard and the Big Red battled through nearly two periods of scoreless play.

When Cornell's Melissa Gambrell was penalized for delay of game with 23 seconds remaining in the second period, thing looked good for Harvard. But the tides turned quickly 10 seconds later, when Linda Campbell scored on a short-handed, unassisted breakaway, pushing the puck past Harvard junior netminder Gillian D'Souza.

"We made some mistakes and paid for them," Harvard coach John Dooley said. "We had a lapse. We should have known better."

Cornell used its momentum from the Campbell goal to dominate the third period, out-shooting the Crimson nine to four.

"We had trouble finishing off the play," Co-Captain Char Joslin said. "To hustle that hard and have a fluke goal was frustrating. [The game] was a real emotional roller coaster."

And what a ride it was.

For most of the third period the Crimson was in a dip. Cornell tallied two more goals before Joslin chalked up Harvard's lone goal with 6:55 remaining.

"We were frustrated through almost two whole periods," said the game's leading point scorer, Cornell sophomore Linda Campbell (one goal, one assist). "We played our game in the third period."

Putting the loss behind them, Dooley's troops played their game on Sunday against RIT.

"We couldn't get our legs going [on Saturday]," Harvard Co-Captain Martina Albright said. "RIT was a good win for us. We've lost to them in the past."

Throughout the opening period Harvard applied pressure on Tiger goalie Lori Steck. It was not until 14:52 into the first that sophomore Ginny Simonds, with a feed from Joslin, scored for Harvard.

The second period was owned by sophomore Sandra Whyte, who ironically opened the period with a two-minute penalty for slashing. But three minutes into the second period Whyte redeemed herself by taking a pass from Albright and popping it past a sprawling Steck. Nearly eight minutes later the sophomore scored again, deflecting a puck that was bouncing around in front. Just a minute later it looked like Whyte would be cleaning the hats off the ice when a rocket deflected off the right post.

Harvard continued to put pressure on the puck and play strong defense, squandering the Tigers' chances.

"Gillian [D'Souza] was outstanding," Dooley said. "This was her best game and hopefully it will continue."

D'Souza racked up 30 saves, repelling everything except one goal during an onslaught of RIT shots with under a minute left in the game.

Joslin also starred in the victory, tallying two goals. With just over four minutes left in the second frame, Joslin unleashed a missile from the top right circle which sailed by Steck. Joslin then buried the final Crimson goal with a backhander as she was knocked over by the Tiger goalie.

THE NOTEBOOK: The team's final challenge before exams will come Wednesday, when the Crimson faces off with MIT at Bright. Harvard's Ivy season will resume January 31 in Providence, R.I., against Brown.