PREVIEW: Tough Tests Loom at Bright

With the forecast calling for lows in the 20s and No. 3 New Hampshire (UNH) in town, the No. 4 Harvard women’s hockey team will have its hands full staying warm.

The Crimson, which had an eight-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday, pushes further into a tough December schedule with a game against the Wildcats (14-2-1, 6-1-0 Hockey East) tonight at Bright Hockey Center.

Harvard (11-2-0, 9-1-0 ECAC) will then wrap up its series of five non-conference games versus Providence (7-8-3, 5-1-2 HE) on Saturday.

The teams’ proximity in the rankings might tell it all in Friday’s matchup, as UNH and Harvard enter the contest with quite similar resumes. Both teams have two losses on the season—the Wildcats falling to Boston College and top-ranked Mercyhurst and the Crimson to No. 7 St. Lawrence and UConn—and strong talent at the forward position.

Sophomore forwards Sam Faber and Angela Taylor recorded three points each in the Wildcats’ last win, a 5-0 rout of Vermont, and Faber currently ranks 13th in the nation for points per game.

“I think they have some great forwards that are fairly shifty and have the ability to put the puck away well,” said Harvard co-captain and forward Julie Chu of the Wildcat frontline.

But with sophomore forward Jenny Brine leading the nation in goals and Chu currently first in points per game, not to mention explosive sophomore winger Sarah Vaillancourt, the Crimson may have the edge in individual talent.

However, Chu is listed as day-to-day after suffering a sprained ankle in last Saturday’s game against Minnesota-Duluth and hasn’t skated since. The coaches will make a decision with regard to her status during the pregame skate today.

“We want to make the best decision for the long run,” Chu said, “Not just for the game tomorrow.”

But the stakes may go beyond the rankings in this contest.

For the Wildcats, the extra boost might come in the form of the 600th win in school history, leaving them just three victories away from being the winningest program in women’s college hockey.

And for Harvard, last season’s 0-3 record against UNH could provide an extra incentive. The final contest of the three should still be fresh in the minds of the Crimson skaters, as the Wildcats ended Harvard’s season with a 3-1 win in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament. Moreover, tonight’s showdown offers the Crimson a chance to rebound from a 3-2 loss to UConn earlier this week.

In last season’s meetings, it was Harvard’s defense that struggled mightily, as the Crimson was outscored, 11-2, over the three games.

Maintaining, then, what has proven to be explosive offense, while remaining stingy on defense (1.23 goals allowed per game), could be the winning combination.

“Defensively, we are going to have to be really on our check, making sure that we are on our man, and not letting them control the puck too much in our zone,” Chu said. “Once we give them a little space, they have enough talent at forward to get good opportunities.”

In Providence, Harvard has an opponent that it has beaten in five of their last six contests but one that owns a 22-12-3 lifetime record against the Crimson.

After pulling off an upset of then-No. 9 BC last weekend, the Friars have shown that they are a team that can offer top squads a challenge.

“Providence is definitely just a grinding team,” Chu said. “They have some people that have some finesse to them, but a lot of it is their work ethic…we want to make sure that we are ready to play from the drop of the puck.”

The puck drops at 7 p.m. for both games this weekend.