Late-Game Slump Leads to Defeat

DURHAM, N.H.—The No. 7 Harvard women’s hockey team took the ice at the Whittemore Center Wednesday night to the blaring guitar strains of AC/DC. And although the Crimson (10-6-2, 7-2-2 ECAC) was not “Thunderstruck” by top-ranked New Hampshire (16-2-0, 7-1-0 Hockey East), it was certainly blunder-struck in a mistake-filled third period that eventually led to a 5-1 defeat.

After threatening the host’s 10-game winning streak by remaining within one goal of the Wildcats through the initial two frames, the wheels came off for Harvard down the stretch as fatigue set in and its defensive execution collapsed.

“We certainly feel like we’re a lot better team than we were before Christmas,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “Unfortunately, in the third period, things got crazy. We hurt ourselves tonight, situations we would typically control with a little more poise and confidence, we didn’t control.”

UNH found the back of the net three times in the first 7:48 of the final period, forging the cushion the Crimson had labored to prevent for 40 minutes. Shannon Clement scored on a deflection and Lindsay Hansen forced home a rebound to push the margin to 4-1 before Nicole Hekle and the Wildcat power play finally broke through for the game’s final goal on the unit’s sixth try.

Before that point, the Harvard penalty kill had excelled on the Whittemore Center’s wide ice surface in erasing five penalties—four of which were charged to the squad’s young defenders—against the country’s statistically-best team with an extra skater.

“That bummed me out at the end,” Stone said. “We killed every penalty until the last one. That was disappointing. You play 5-on-4 for a large part of the game, you’re going to be pretty tired. We need to stay out of the penalty box.”

The Crimson, the nation’s second-ranked power play entering the matchup, only managed to draw two whistles and squandered both of its man-advantage chances.

It was a disappointing finish for Stone and Harvard, a typically strong third-period team this season, in their attempt to avenge a home loss to UNH over a month ago.

Before Wednesday, the Crimson had outscored its opponents 32-10 in the final frame.

The exhaustive effort on the penalty kill and the mental lapses on defense, however, ultimately took their toll as UNH asserted itself and validated its new No. 1 spot.

“I thought we did a pretty good job of defending the big sheet, which is difficult to do,” Stone said. “I was just disappointed in the last 20 minutes.”

At the outset, though, Harvard seemed prepared to upset the Wildcats in their first game atop the national polls. After generating several odd-man rushes out of the UNH zone in the contest’s opening minutes, the Crimson jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on junior Liza Solley’s eighth goal of the season at the 6:58. Junior Jennifer Sifers seized the puck behind the net on the forecheck and tried to wrap-around a shot on Wildcats netminder Melissa Bourdon. The puck slipped across the crease to Solley, who beat Bourdon inside the left post for the go-ahead score.

“Originally a lot of those [scoring] chances started up in our own end,” junior Katie Johnston said. “But towards the end of the game we weren’t doing that as much. we were just kind of throwing the puck away without looking.”

The lead was short-lived, as UNH quickly regained the advantage with two goals of its own within four minutes of the Harvard strike.

Senior goalie Ali Boe, who finished with 26 saves, was beat by a nimble Sadie Wright-Ward to tie the game and surrendered the game-winner when she went the wrong way on a 2-on-1 breakaway.

“We continue to get the same effort from Ali Boe,” Stone said. “I thought she did a great job tonight. It could have gotten crazy if she hadn’t been there.”

Nevertheless, the 11 shots the Crimson fired in the first period were the most allowed in a single frame by the Wildcats all year. In addition, the choppy rhythm of the scoreless second period permitted Harvard to hang with the skilled UNH team.

“I think Harvard had something to do with it, but I don’t think we played as sharply as we’ve been playing,” Wildcat coach Brian McCloskey said. “I think the shots tell the tale. They had 24 shots and we haven’t give up that many shots. They’re one of the quickest teams in the country.”

The loss marked the first time this season the Crimson has dropped a game in which it scored first.

Harvard now begins a 19-day stint away from competition before rejoining the ECAC race with a road clash against traditional nemesis Dartmouth on Jan. 30.

—Staff writer Jonathan Lehman can be reached at jlehman@fas.harvard.edu.