W. Hockey to Regain No .1 Ranking, Beat Northeastern 5-3

BOSTON--In a cross-town battle that had implications for the national picture as well as for next month's Beanpot, the No. 2 Harvard women's hockey team jumped all over No. 1 Northeastern in the first period and hung on for a 5-3 victory over the Huskies yesterday at Matthews Arena.

"This was an important game between the two teams that have been ranked No. 1 this year," said junior winger Tammy Shewchuk, who had a hand in all five goals. "Chances are that we'll face them again in the Beanpot, and today we really wanted to show them we've earned what we have."

With the win, Harvard (11-2-2, 9-2-2 ECAC) should move past Northeastern and claim the top spot in the U.S. College Hockey Online national rankings when the poll is released later today.

Harvard also has sole possession of first place in the conference, despite a 1-1 tie at No. 8 Providence on Saturday.

Harvard has a two-point lead over Northeastern (13-3-2, 8-2-2) and a three-point lead over No. 4 Brown, the Crimson's travel partner, which tied at both Northeastern and Providence last weekend.

After converting only one of 46 shots against the Friars, the top forward line of Shewchuk, sophomore center Jen Botterill and junior winger Angie Francisco--three of the ECAC's top six scorers--lit up the Huskies.

The trio combined for 12 points against the two best defenses in the conference. Northeastern and Providence allow just 1.17 and 1.31 goals per game, respectively.

"The first line has to work well together, otherwise we have to make adjustments," Harvard Coach Katey Stone said. "It doesn't make sense to have three really great players on a life if they are not producing. So I told them to share the puck and good things would happen, and that's what they did today."

Harvard 5, Northeastern 3

Northeastern has been ranked No. 1 for the last month because its defense has not given up more than three goals in a game all season. Yesterday, the Huskies surrendered three goals to Shewchuk and Botterill in the first period.

"We came out sluggish against Providence, so it was great to turn it up right off the bat," Stone said. "Northeastern is good and our kids understood that they were not going to back down once they fell behind. We outworked them today."

The Huskies cut the lead two 3-2 in the second period, during which neither team could establish its offense. The only goal came in transition, when Northeastern winger Betsy Dyke dumped the puck into the zone and it slipped past Harvard senior goaltender Crystal Springer.

Northeastern's best chance to tie the score came midway through the second when a breakdown in the Harvard defensive zone gave the Huskies a two-on-none break. But the first shot hit the post, Springer deflected the rebound shot.

"Characteristically, Northeastern is a team that pounces on people's mistakes," Stone said. "We played a much more controlled game today. We turned the puck over a bit but not as much as they were hoping."

Harvard got a much-needed insurance goal 6:59 into the third in a four-on-four situation. With its top line and the conference's highest scoring defenseman, sophomore Angela Ruggiero, on the ice, the Crimson cycled the puck in the offensive zone until Ruggiero banged home a rebound at the left post.

"That was a complete team effort," Ruggiero said. "It went back and forth so many times in front of the net and I was just there to pick up the trash when I tapped in a rebound. It was big to pick up the extra goal but we knew they could come back."

A hooking penalty against Ruggiero, who was defending Northeastern's star winger Hilary Witt, gave the Huskies one more chance with 3:01 left in regulation. Northeastern Coach Heather Linstad pulled goaltender Erika Silva, and winger Lisa Giovanelli knocked in a rebound with the six-on-four advantage to cut the deficit to one goal with 1:56 remaining.

But Northeastern center Colleen Coen drew an interference penalty 24 seconds later and the Huskies were unable to score again. Shewchuk completed the hat trick on an empty-netter with 16 seconds left to seal the victory.

The Crimson outshot the Huskies, 35-32 and converted two of its three power plays. More importantly, Harvard did not allow Northeastern to set up its offense and it did not give Witt--who is tied for third in the conference with 32 points--many legitimate scoring chances, although she did record two assists.

Northeastern opened the scoring 2:01 into the game. Springer stopped a shot by Witt, but Husky center Kim Vallone was waiting to put back the rebound.

Shewchuk put Harvard in front by scoring its two first goals. She evened the score at 1-1 6:22 into the game by flying into the slot and sending a pass from Francisco past Northeastern goaltender Erika Silva.

"We found that the more we worked it in the corner, the more discombobulated Northeastern got," Shewchuk said. "So we were working it down low and Angie got the puck in the corner. She gave me an awesome pass and they left me alone in front of the net."

Harvard took the lead on the power play at 8:21 of the first period. Ruggiero swung the puck to Shewchuk, who walked in from the left circle for the goal.

Two minutes later, Shewchuk fed Botterill along the boards, and she skated around the net to score from point-blank range.

Harvard 1, Providence 1

The Friars (9-4-3, 6-3-3) got an early goal and then relied on goaltender Sara DeCosta, a gold medalist on the 1998 U.S. Olympic Team, to keep them in the game and move into fifth place in the conference with a 1-1 tie on Saturday at Schneider Arena.

"For some reason, we are not starting out as strong as we would like," Stone said. "Both Northeastern and Providence scored in the first three minutes of the game. We shut Providence down after that, but DeCosta shut as down, too. We had great chances and she was just everywhere, it seemed like she had arms and legs all over the place."

Providence's only goal came 52 seconds into the game when forward Jennifer Butsch set up defenseman Jennifer Kranz. DeCosta, who is tied for first in the ECAC with a .950 save percentage, then stopped 38 of 39 Crimson shots in regulation to force overtime. She made seven saves in regulation to deny Harvard a victory.

"DeCosta stood on her head," said Ruggiero, who was DeCosta's Olympic teammate. "We put a lot of pressure on them, it was just a matter of finishing."

Shewchuk evened the score at 6:26 of the second period, with assists from Ruggiero and Botterill.

Seventeen penalties were called, 10 of them as matching minors. There were three penalties in the final two minutes of regulation and Harvard had a four-on-three advantage for 51 seconds but could not score. DeCosta also stopped the Crimson power play during the final 1:07 of overtime.