Nation’s Top Two Battle in Durham

As the band Three Dog Night sang in 1969, “One is the loneliest number.”

For the Harvard women’s hockey team, this could not be closer to the truth. After a meteoric rise through the national rankings in which the Crimson tied a team record by starting the season with an 11-game winning streak—including four victories against top-10 teams—Harvard stands all by itself at No. 1.

The Crimson (11-0-0, 9-0-0 ECAC) supplanted now-No. 2 New Hampshire in the national rankings after sweeping No. 9 Connecticut and Providence this past weekend while the Wildcats split a series with No. 6 Mercyhurst.

“We learn not to pay attention to rankings too much,” senior tri-captain Caitlin Cahow said. “It does feel great to be on top of the heap but it’s early.”

But while Harvard may not pay much heed to the polls, the rest of the nation is certainly aware of the Crimson’s recent coup of the top spot, and from here on out Harvard will be playing with a bulls’-eye on its back.

“Everyone wants to be the first team to beat us,” junior forward Sarah Vaillancourt said. “We definitely have a red flag on our team right now.”

Fittingly enough, the first team lined up to challenge the Crimson’s supremacy is none other than UNH (16-3-0, 9-0-0 Hockey East). Harvard travels to Durham, N.H. tomorrow night to take on the Wildcats in their famed Towse Rink.

Towse generally creates a tremendous home ice advantage for UNH. It is only the sixth Olympic-sized—200 ft. by 100 ft.—rink in the nation, catering perfectly to a Wildcats team with blazing speed at all positions and a host of potent scorers—UNH has six players with at least 19 points in 19 team games.

“We all know that their rink is huge,” Vaillancourt said. “They’re going play a different game because they’re used to playing on that type of ice. I think we’re expecting a really fast team.”

But the Crimson matches up extremely well with the Wildcats. Speed has been Harvard’s forte this season, as the Crimson features a swift batch of forwards headlined by Vaillancourt along with the blistering Minnesota duo of rookie Katharine Chute and sophomore transfer Anna McDonald and freshman Ukranian import Liza Ryabkina.

Harvard also boasts a versatile defensive unit led by Cahow—who has played forward on the U.S. National Team—that can move the puck up the ice with alarming speed.

“I don’t think you can argue with anyone’s speed on our side,” Cahow said. “We’re going to use all of those players to our advantage. The big ice also works really well for us in terms of our passing game.”

In order to prepare for the larger sheet, the Crimson has been practicing this week at in at Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Mass., which has an Olympic-sized rink of its own.

Tomorrow night’s game will have major implications for both teams involved.

For UNH, the contest represents a chance to reclaim the No. 1 spot it had held on to since November 5.

For Harvard, it is an opportunity to put a final stamp of legitimacy on its remarkable run by justifying its No. 1 ranking against the honor’s previous owner.

The game is also the Crimson’s last until Jan. 4, as Harvard heads into the winter break. While some squads might worry about getting rusty over such an extended period without game action, the Crimson welcomes the opportunity to get some rest and relaxation while improving on some aspects of its game that still aren’t crisp enough.

“I think all of us need that break,” Vaillancourt said. “I’m not taking it as a negative thing at all…[We need to improve] our defensive zone. I don’t think any team has won a championship and had trouble with their defensive zone.”

But before the break, Harvard must face the Wildcats, the largest roadblock yet in the way of its unbeaten streak. In its toughest challenge, the Crimson looks to put up its finest effort.

“What we’re looking for [tomorrow] night is to put together a game we can be proud of,” Cahow said. “The best part about it is we’re playing a great team and we’ve got nothing to hold back on.”

—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu