Without Stars, Crimson Earns Victory

With the prestigious Four Nations Cup drawing top players to Ontario this weekend, the No. 8 Harvard women’s hockey team found itself in a familiar position on Friday night at Bright Hockey Center—taking the ice without leading scorers Julie Chu and Sarah Vaillancourt and defensive anchor Caitlin Cahow, all three of whom took last season off to compete in the Olympic Games.

However, the Crimson (5-1-0, 5-1-0 ECAC) refused to let the loss of their three stars translate to a loss in the standings, as the team skated to a 4-3 victory over Colgate (3-7-1, 3-1-0 ECAC) on an overtime goal by sophomore Jenny Brine.

While scrappy play characterized most of regulation, the goal that clinched the game 1:49 into sudden-death overtime was absolutely textbook. Sophomores Sarah Wilson and Brine executed the give-and-go to perfection, as Brine sped past her defender to turn a pass from Wilson into a beautiful finish in front of the net.

“When it goes into overtime, I like our chances—I always do,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “All of a sudden it’s tied, everything levels off, and then boom, you go again.”

The team prepared for the weekend “more with excitement than with nervousness,” said co-captain Jennifer Sifers, who scored the equalizer in the third period to send the game into overtime. “It was a time for everyone to step up and a great experience for our younger players to get out there.”

While a handful of freshman saw action in the first period, it was senior Katie Johnston who got Harvard on the board with a short-handed tally with just over three minutes remaining in the frame. Johnston jumped on a puck that was mishandled by a Raiders defender during a line change and dashed in to score unassisted to give the Crimson a 1-0 lead.

Special teams saw a lot of ice time for both sides as 18 penalties were whistled on the night, including two game misconduct calls.

Colgate’s Tara French collected the first game misconduct of the night with 29 seconds left in the first period for hitting from behind, giving Harvard five minutes of man advantage. However, the Raiders managed to kill the penalty and then added insult to injury when forward Sam Hunt slipped the puck through her defender’s legs and scored just after the penalty expired.

With the game continuing tied at 1 well into the second period, Colgate was whistled again at the 10:31 mark and the Crimson would make the most of its power-play opportunity.

Sophomore Sarah Wilson steered the puck away from the boards and dished it to Brine, who managed to whip a shot past netminder Elayna Hamashuk from the left face-off circle to give Harvard a 2-1 lead.

Early in the third period, it was the Crimson’s turn to commit a game misconduct as Johnston was also whistled for hitting from behind.

“You could kind of see it coming,” Stone said. “Once they get one [game misconduct], something is going to happen—that’s the kind of game it is.”

A subsequent penalty on Harvard gave the Raiders a full two minutes of 5-on-3 advantage and a prime opportunity to even the score.

With sophomore Brittany Martin minding the net, though, the Crimson was able put a firm clamp on the Colgate attack. Martin finished the contest with 42 saves, making the difference in a game in which Harvard was outshot 45 to 32.

“I thought the ice was tipped in their direction if it weren’t for Brittany Martin standing on her head,” Stone said. “She played as well as I have ever seen her play.”

But the Crimson’s defensive efforts were erased by a quick game-tying Colgate score at the 12:18 mark of the final period.

The Raiders then took the lead for the first time at the 15:18 mark when Hunt got her stick on a rebound during a 5-on-3 power play.

With 3:22 left in regulation and both teams playing down a man, Sifers turned a potential mistake into the goal that evened the score at three and forced the game into an extra session.

“We actually only had three people on the ice because of a bench problem,” Sifers said. “Liza Solley fired a pass across, and I extended my arm out.”

Sifers got just enough of her stick on Solley’s cross to beat Hamashuk.

The final burst of offense tied together the loose ends of a Harvard performance that was not without bumps. The Crimson racked up 10 penalties, capitalized on just two of six power plays, and was outshot by a 13-count margin.

“We are still showing our youth and inexperience,” Stone said. “We hurt ourselves today in places where we can’t afford to.”

And while the team missed the contributions of its trio of stars, their absence had a silver lining as far as Stone was concerned.

“A win without [Chu, Vaillancourt, and Cahow] is much more valuable than a win with them,” Stone said, “Because it is giving other kids an opportunity to step up, contribute, make things happen and earn their stripes.”