Effectiveness on Special Teams Sets Tone in High-Powered Clash

In hockey, you live and die by the penalty.

Or more specifically, how well you can handle the special teams when the penalties are inevitably called.

Yesterday, the No. 5 Harvard women’s hockey team faced one of the toughest penalty kill units in the country in No. 1 St. Lawrence. The Saints entered the game having killed 50-of-54 of their opponents’ one-man advantages—second best in the country.

But a late call on St. Lawrence left Harvard open to notch the game tying score with under a minute left in regulation. When junior Liza Solley banged home the puck with just six seconds to play, and the Crimson on a 6-on-4 advantage after senior goaltender Ali Boe had left the ice.

In the opening frame of the game, Harvard had two power-play opportunities that did not last the full two minutes. Nevertheless, the Crimson converted on one of its two opportunities when junior Katie Johnston and freshman Jenny Brine perfectly worked a 2-on-1 break.

In the second period, though Harvard gave up the game-tying goal to the Saints, it stayed out of the penalty box and thus kept itself in the game. This discipline was a far cry from the day before when against Clarkson, four penalties prevented any momentum from building in the middle frame to mount a comeback against the Golden Knights.

Additionally, St. Lawrence was not the only team on the ice with a stellar penalty kill—the Crimson now have killed 30-of-34 on the season. In yesterday’s game, the Saints were 0-for-6 during the one-man advantage situations.

“We’re killing our own power plays for the most part,” St. Lawrence coach Paul Flanagan said. “They did a good job of keeping us to the perimeter, and we overpassed it. Against a team like this, you just can’t get the perfect shot. We were just trying to get our D to get it through.”

Part of the boost on both special team units has been the presence of senior Jennifer Raimondi at the blue line and on the defensive. Over the last two years, this role was played by senior Julie Chu, who is away with the U.S. National Team, and Raimondi has filled in well to date.

With Raimondi at the helm and a solid core of veterans working the special teams, Harvard was the top ranked team in the country in combined special teams entering the game against the Saints.

“We need to get away from being a more penalized team, and get back to being the skating, passing Harvard hockey teams we’ve been in the past,” Crimson coach Katey Stone said. “It’s just a matter of getting some games under us, and getting used to what’s going on.”

THE NORTHERN INVADERS

Saturday seemed to provide the answer to the big question in the ECAC this season—has the balance of power shifted north?

While Clarkson upset Harvard in Cambridge, fellow northerner St. Lawrence dominated Dartmouth for a 3-0 victory in Hanover.

The Saints not only shut down the Big Green offense, but outshot their perennial rivals, 41-24. St. Lawrence converted on two of its eight powerplays for the game winning goal and the clincher to go up by three goals late in the second period. Overall, the Saints had a very balanced game, and held Dartmouth in check the entire game.

The win was also St. Lawrence’s eighth in its last 10 games versus the Big Green.

Yesterday, while Harvard’s tie with the Saints was a balance to Saturday’s loss, Clarkson continued its surprising start by upending Dartmouth in a tight 1-0 victory.

With the win, the Golden Knights moved to 4-0-0, and are the only team to have won all its conference contests to date.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

In another intriguing matchup involving an ECAC foe this weekend, No. 9 Princeton split its series with No. 10 Ohio State. The Tigers won 4-1 on Friday and then could not hold up in the defensive battle on Saturday, losing to the Buckeyes by a score of 2-1. Next week, Princeton will face the powerful Northern rivals when Clarkson and St. Lawrence come to New Jersey.

—Staff writer Gabriel M. Velez can be reached at gmvelez@fas.harvard.edu.