Tight Penalty Kill Proves Crucial for W. Hockey

SCHENECTADY, N.Y.—Against a Yale team that played disciplined hockey without many penalties—at least, until the final minutes of the game—Harvard countered with a tight penalty kill that seemed more efficient on the ice than its own power play.

Facing a Dartmouth team that had shut out St. Lawrence’s power play a day earlier, the Crimson even managed to put up a point on its penalty kill.

In fact, it would be fair to say Harvard won out this weekend because of the stellar play of its special teams.

“It’s just great that all the time and effort we have spent in practice on special teams paid off,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “I think we would prefer playing 5-on-5, but when the opportunities present themselves we want to capitalize.”

On Friday, while Yale had seven man advantages throughout the game, it only managed a measly three shots.

To the Bulldogs’ credit, one of those chances went in for Yale’s only goal with just seconds left to play in regulation. Even that goal, however, was on a two-man advantage after the Bulldogs pulled their goalie to put more even more pressure on Crimson junior goaltender Ali Boe and the rest of the Harvard defense.

Even that penalty play, however, started with Corriero holding the puck by herself in the Yale zone for half a minute while five of the Bulldogs’ skaters chased her around.

“Well, it’s always a little frantic and the team that’s up always forgets that they’re up,” Stone said. “You think you would play with more confidence, but sometimes you’re squeezing it and the other team is playing with reckless abandon.”

In the opposite semifinal, Dartmouth maintained a suffocating defense as well on special teams, keeping St. Lawrence scoreless despite eight power plays and two two-man advantages.

Against Harvard, however, some moments of amazing goaltending by Kate Lane during the penalty kill could not slow down the Crimson unit.

On the opposite side, Harvard killed off a 1:14 of two-man advantage while Dartmouth was throwing its big duo of Gillian Apps and Cherie Piper together after the two had been playing on separate lines the whole weekend. All told, Harvard killed five straight minutes of power play to end the second period, including three of 5-on-3 hockey.

Additionally, sophomore Jennifer Sifers added a shorthanded goal to give the Crimson the 4-1 lead.

“Our penalty kill is very attacking we don’t spend a lot of time practicing a passive penalty kill,” Stone said. “And they did a nice job of setting some picks, and holding the puck long enough to draw someone and move it, we were just a little bit hesitant.”

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

As the Harvard women’s hockey team was riding home along with the ECAC championship trophy it had secured, the focus had already shifted to what will be the climax of the season.

At 6:15, the matchups for the first round of the NCAA tournament were announced. While none of the teams selected surprised the collegiate hockey world, the actual pairings were a far cry from what many suspected.

Instead of going the easier route of making match-ups based on a minimal number of flights, the NCAA selection committee created pairings that will have four teams flying to face opponents not in their conference.

For Harvard—which secured home ice for the first round of the NCAA playoffs with its ECAC tournament win—the result was a first round game against Mercyhurst, a team which the Crimson has never played before.

Bright Hockey Center will host the game this Saturday afternoon.

No. 1 Minnesota will take on St. Lawrence, Dartmouth will host Wisconsin, and Minnesota-Duluth will welcome Providence—this weekend’s Hockey East Champion and thus, automatic tournament bid—to its campus.

In general, the mood before the announcement of the first-ever eight-team tournament was one of wonderment, as it seemed no one could really pin down how the NCAA would set up the games.

“What might the overall picture be?” Dartmouth coach Mark Hudak said. “I don’t know.”

The semifinals and finals contests will be played the following weekend in Durham, New Hampshire, at UNH’s Whittemore Rink.

THE OTHER HALF

In Friday’s other semifinal, goals were just as hard to come by as in the Harvard-Yale contest.

That is, until the third period.

Though the teams split their season series and St, Lawrence was up 1-0 heading into the final frame, Dartmouth—the number two seed in the tournament—sent the Saints packing with four goals to win by a final score of 4-2.

The Saints scored first in the second period, but Dartmouth then responded with two goals to go ahead 2-1. The second came in the middle of the third period when Caroline Ethier knocked the puck out of the air with her stick. Despite St. Lawrence’s arguments that a high-sticking penalty should have been called, referee Kevin Keenan called the play a goal and the game continued with Dartmouth up by one.

The two teams then traded goals and the Big Green’s Cherie Piper put in the game winner.

Unlike the earlier matchup of the Crimson and the Bulldogs, the Saints and Dartmouth played a much more physical game with 17 penalties called in total. The game also included a number of hard hits and checks into the boards as the Big Green used its size and physicality to wear away at St. Lawrence and the impressive play of its goaltender, Jess Moffat—who finished with 37 saves.

SWEPT AWAY

Harvard took the majority of the ECAC awards much as it swept away this season’s Ivy League honors.

After the tournament, Corriero, Vaillancourt, senior Ashley Banfield and sophomore Caitlin Cahow were named to the all-tournament team. Additionally, Corriero was named Most Outstanding Player.

On the night before play began in Schnetectady, N.Y., the ECAC followed up on the Ivy’s nod to Corriero as the Player of the Year. The award for the Crimson made Harvard’s sixth such honor in the last seven years.

Corriero was also named to the First-Team All-ECAC as a repeat award winner, along with fellow captain Chu—who was named to the team her freshman year in 2003—and fellow senior Banfield.

Vaillancourt—who was Honorable Mention for the Ivy awards—was named as a second-team forward on Friday as well as picking up the Rookie of the Year recognition. She was also part of the All-Rookie team.

Stone was named Coach of the Year, giving the Crimson three of the four major awards this season.

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