W. Hockey Sweeps Niagra

After a week of shaky performances against Ivy League foes, the Harvard women's hockey team returned to form this weekend, sweeping Niagara at the Bright Hockey Center 5-2 yesterday afternoon and 6-4 on Saturday.

Junior forward Angie Francisco led the No. 2 Crimson (10-2-1, 8-2-1 ECAC) with two goals and two assists on the weekend, and both freshman forward Kalen Ingram and sophomore defenseman Angela Ruggiero registered two goals and one assist.

Francisco now leads the ECAC in scoring, with 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points in her first 11 games.

"I don't think their defense was much different from the other teams we've faced this year--they were pretty strong," Francisco said. "We just generated a lot of offense around the net this weekend and got the puck in the net because of that."

The Crimson has found its rhythm after two weeks without two of its top scorers, sophomore forward Jen Botterill and junior forward Tammy Shewchuk, both of whom were playing with the Canadian national team at the Three Nations Cup in Montreal.

Both Botterill and Shewchuk returned to action against Brown last Thursday, but the Crimson could not hold a 4-1 lead going into the third period and ended up with a 4-4 tie against the Bears.

The weekend's performance lifted the Crimson into a tie for first place in the ECAC with Northeastern (11-2-1, 8-1-1), who did not play this weekend.

Harvard 5, Niagara 2

Already one loss down on the weekend, Niagara (9-5-1, 5-5-0) seemed to be skating defensively throughout the game, allowing the Crimson to maintain possession both in and out of its offensive zone.

The result was a lopsided contest in which the Crimson outshot Niagara 52-19.

Ingram got the eventual game winner at 9:36 in the second period.

Senior defender Christie MacKinnon split the defense and found Ingram moving forward at center ice. Ingram skated in on goal, moved the puck to her right side and put it through Niagara goalie Tania Pinelli's five-hole.

The Crimson's third goal of the day would be enough to complete the weekend sweep.

From the outset, it appeared that the puck was going to be in the Crimson's possession for most of the day.

Although the Purple Eagles had a couple of chances in the first frame, they opted to dump the puck over the Crimson's blue line, creating little organized offensive build-up. Ruggiero and the rest of the back line were quick to the corners, however, and Niagara's tactics often ended in Harvard possession.

Niagara's disorganized attack eventually made the Purple Eaters pay when Botterill broke the scoreless tie at 19:22

Botterill picked up an errant Niagara pass on the left side of mid-ice and skated towards the net, immediately beating one defender as she moved to the middle of the ice. Seeing Botterill on the break, Francisco skated up the right side to complete the two-on-one, and got the puck as she crossed the blue line.

Hesitating for a second, Francisco drew Niagara's only remaining defender, then gave the puck back to Botterill. With Pinelli hugging the right post, Botterill had all plenty of room on the left side of the net.

Harvard carried the offensive onslaught into the second period, registering six shots in the first minute and a half. Even a penalty on freshman forward Tracy Catlin for cross checking could not stop form rushing the Purple Eagles' net.

At 3:56, Francisco was again at the center of the offense. Although the Crimson was a man down at the time, Francisco picked off another errant pass at the top of Harvard's defensive zone and skated away from Niagara's power play. Although Pinelli charged out from the net trying to cut off the angle, Francisco went to her right and got her second point of the day.

Niagara struck back five minutes later, when freshman forward Candice Calee went top-shelf on Crimson goalie Crystal Springer at 8:58.

Calee got a good look only after a quick Niagara rush pushed the Crimson defense deep into the zone. When the puck popped back out to Calee, she saw Springer was partially screened by a scrum in front and shot for the only part of the net she could see.

"I was screened a little bit, but I could see around my defender and did see her line up the puck," Springer said. "But because I had to look through the crowd I couldn't really follow the puck as well."

Ingram's goal a minute and a half later marked the beginning of another Crimson onslaught. The constant pressure on the Niagara net led to a series of icing calls, as the Purple Eagles could only counteract the Crimson offense by sending the puck out of their zone and down the ice.

Harvard seemed to have the game under control, but after a quick Niagara goal at 16:54 from freshman forward Valerie Hall, the Crimson had to tighten up in the back.

When the third period began, the Purple Eagles appeared to be intent on becoming the second-straight team to come back on the Crimson in the last week, as the Harvard defense looked paralyzed in the face of a renewed Niagara offense.

"I think they probably came out pretty fired up because the game was so close," Springer said. "We saw them as we came out of the tunnel, and they were talking about how close it was and how it [the game] was still theirs, so I think it was just that they were pumped up."

After a couple of nice kick saves from Springer, however, Niagara had tired itself out, and the Crimson took control of the play.

Botterill and Francisco combined again at 12:27 to extend the lead to two goals.

As both players worked behind the net, Botterill found Francisco on the left side. Francisco found the left post open, skated around to the front of net and slid the puck past Pinelli on the right side.

Junior forward Tara Dunn found junior forward Kiirsten Suurkask at 13:33 for the Crimson's final goal.

Harvard 6, Niagara 4

The Crimson dominated the second period of its first match against Niagara and walked away with a 6-4 victory Saturday.

Although Harvard had demolished the Purple Eagles 6-0, 5-0 last season,

Niagara has played both Cornell and New Hampshire close this year, walking

away with a victory against Cornell.

"Niagara has battled hard with the top teams in the league," Harvard Coach Katey Stone said. "I thought that we played pretty well, although we let them hang around a little longer that I would have liked."

The stronger, more experienced Crimson outmatched the young Niagara team. The Crimson outshot Niagara 38-29.

The Purple Eagles drew first blood early, scoring 48 seconds into the game. Calee positioned a shot off a two-on-one fast break over the blocker of Harvard senior goaltender Crystal Springer.

Shewchuk evened the score at one three minutes later directly off the face-off

After playing a 1-1 first period, Harvard dominated play in the second

period, lighting the lamp 4 times. The Purple Eagles managed only one goal

in response.

The first two goals came from the Crimson's second forward line. Junior

Kiirsten Suurkask, the reigning ECAC player of the week, assisted twice.

Her linemates, Ingram and Dunn, both scored in the first five minutes of the period.

Ruggiero also tallied two goals in the period. In addition, Ingram had a goal waved-off during the period.

The Crimson presented a more balanced offensive effort than in

previous games, running three forward lines for nearly the entire game.

Three of Crimson's six goals came when the second or third forward lines

were on the ice.

"The one thing that I am most pleased with is that we are getting scoring from all lines," Stone said.

Two Crimson freshmen excelled this weekend: Ingram and defenseman Jamie Hagerman. Ingram scored, had an assist and a goal waved-off against Niagara. Hagerman helped to set up numerous scoring opportunities from the blue line, and she assisted on Ruggiero's second goal.

Niagara had one final opportunity to tie the game when it pulled its goaltender while on a power play with only two minutes remaining in the game. Despite the two-man advantage, the Purple Eagles were unable to come back from the 6-4 deficit.

The Harvard victory was crucial after the disappointing tie to Brown on Wednesday night.

"Unlike the Brown game, when Niagara built up momentum, we came right back at them," Springer said.

Harvard returns to conference play on January 8 when it takes on Providence College. The Crimson also hosts the U.S. National Team on Friday night in exhibition play at Bright Hockey Center.