Crimson Meets Top 'Cats

With papers and finals weighing on the Harvard women’s hockey team, it will play its most meaningful road game to date today when it travels to the University of New Hampshire to play the No. 1 Wildcats.

After consecutive road wins at Colgate and Cornell last weekend, the Crimson (10-5-2, 7-2-2 ECAC) sits at No. 7 in the polls—its highest placement since the beginning of the season.

These two powerhouse programs played just over a month ago, when UNH (15-2-0, 7-1-0 Hockey East) stormed into Bright Hockey Center and shut out Harvard by a 3-0 score. Now the Crimson will be seeking some vengeance as well as a quality win to keep its momentum going into the break for exams.

“We’re always excited to play a team that’s ranked highly in the polls,” Harvard captain Carrie Schroyer said. “Being in the ECAC, we’re used to going up against teams where their big game is playing versus Harvard. We want to threaten their status.”

Outside of the one loss to the Wildcats, Harvard has won seven games since dropping a pair at Minnesota-Duluth on Nov. 25 and 26. During the streak, the Crimson has played its best hockey of the season.

As opposed to the home meeting with UNH, Harvard has some offensive momentum heading into this game. Against Cornell and Colgate, the Crimson scored 11 goals, with freshman Jenny Brine netting four and earning ECAC Player of the Week honors.

“We’ve been on an offensive spark lately,” Brine said. “We’re going to put some pucks in the net.”

In the last matchup, the Wildcats’ defense outplayed the Harvard offense in all aspects of the game. UNH limited the Crimson to just 16 shots and no power-play goals.

An equally prolific Wildcat offense will challenge Harvard’s bid for a momentous road upset. UNH has won 11 contests in a row, scoring an average of over four goals per game during that stretch. 

Its leading scorer is sophomore Leah Craig, who has 12 goals on the season and scored twice against Harvard in the two teams’ previous clash.

The Crimson must also adapt to the Wildcats’ rink in Durham, N.H., where UNH plays on an uncharacteristically wide ice surface. Although all of the returning Harvard players have played on the rink during the regular season and at the Frozen Four last season, the Wildcats are much more accustomed to their home ice. To top it off, Harvard must make the three-hour trip to Durham just three days before the start of exam period in Cambridge.

“You just check everything out and worry about the game,” senior Jennifer Raimondi said. “It’s a nice break, 'cause for those few hours, all you have to worry about is hockey.”

On the large sheet, special teams will be even more important because the power-play unit have more space to set up. The UNH and Crimson power plays also boast the top two marks in the nation, converting on 29.8 percent and 25.3 percent of their opportunities, respectively.

“They have a big ice surface up there, wider than we’re used to, so our penalty kill will be key,” Schroyer said. “Special teams will be critical. They had two power-play goals, I think, against us when we played.

“And we have to take advantage of our opportunities on the power play,” she added. “They’re very skilled, very quick, so [we will try] to exploit a situation when they’re weak.”

Last game, Harvard had only four power-play opportunities and will need to draw a few more penalties to get into its offensive flow at the unusual rink. If the Crimson gets some crucial one-man advantages, the squad might just have quite an enjoyable ride back to Cambridge tonight.

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