No Silver Lining in Second Straight Beanpot Disappointment

“There are no moral victories,” says Katey Stone, Harvard women’s hockey coach.

There is only a 4-3, triple-overtime defeat at the hands of Boston College in the opening round of Boston’s hallowed Beanpot Tournament.

There is only being rebuffed in trying to reclaim the trophy from the Golden Eagles, who snapped the Crimson’s string of seven straight tourney titles at Bright Hockey Center last February. And being consigned to the consolation game against lowly Northeastern, playing for third place for the first time since 1998.

“There’s no way around it,” Stone says. “It stinks.”

There is only gutting out 114 minutes and 13 seconds on the ice, over four hours in real time, and coming away with a big fat L.

There is only another underwhelming performance against a top-10 team, bringing the Crimson’s record to 4-4-2 against the nationally ranked.

“There’s no positive, there’s no real feel-good that comes out of this game if you don’t win,” Stone says.

There is only sophomore goalie Brittany Martin, who minded net for the duration, sprawled in the crease watching the game’s final roll of the puck, off the stick of Anna McDonald, trickle over the goal line, and into the cage to set off the BC celebration. And her counterpart, Eagles rookie Molly Schaus, a red-haired native of Natick, Mass. being just better enough to prevail, turning away a mind-numbing 73 shots in the process. Then Schaus, in the interview room, still wearing her blocker pads, describing her emotions as the “best feeling in the world.”

There is only the ebb and flow of momentum, lacking in a lethargic first period when Harvard fell behind 2-0, revived in the second when the Crimson rallied to tie the score. Seemingly lost when BC freshman forward Kelli Stack struck with 8:04 remaining in regulation and recaptured 12 seconds later when sophomore Jenny Brine answered the bell.

There is only the untold struggle of co-captain Jennifer Sifers, who was almost a scratch after battling illness all day, suited up and not missing a shift on the second line or the second power play, even scoring Harvard’s first goal of the game on a highlight-reel, between-the-legs redirection to halve BC’s early two-goal lead. And Sifers, ever the leader, rushing to console Martin after the game-ending dribbler.

There is only the sight of Julie Chu, with the dignity, amid the post-game ruckus, to find and hug one of her friends from her other team, fellow U.S. Olympian Katie King, a BC assistant coach. After that, even, Chu lingering on the ice to shake the hand of every last official from a crew that whistled a mere eight penalties in nearly two game’s worth of hockey, the rest of the Crimson long since headed for the solace of the visitors’ locker room.

There is only history, having participated in the longest game in NCAA history, since the organization began keeping records for women’s hockey in 2000. Longer even than the Crimson’s memorable triple-overtime war of attrition with Mercyhurst in the Frozen Eight two years ago. Longer, the press box consensus went, than any college women’s hockey game save one, shorter than only four games on the men’s side. The game lasted so long the band, Harvard’s most vocal supporters, had to depart Conte Forum after the first overtime, in order to catch a ride home.

“There is no moral victory,” Stone repeats. Only a loss and the disappointment.

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