Crimson Falters Twice in League

Before last season, it was well accepted that the Harvard women’s hockey team would be good. But when the Crimson burst out of the gates with an 11-game winning streak and took the top spot in the national rankings, no one saw it coming.

The beginning of this year has not been as kind to No. 4 Harvard, but it has been equally unexpected. The Crimson was swept by ECAC foes Clarkson and No. 8 St. Lawrence on a two-game road trip this weekend. Harvard (3-2-1, 3-2-1 ECAC) opened the season No. 3 in the nation and was expected to dominate within its conference after going undefeated against ECAC opponents last year.

“We’re just not clicking yet,” Crimson coach Katey Stone said. “It’s going to take some time. We need to get some momentum going.”

Harvard could not figure out Golden Knights’ goalie Lauren Dahm on Friday and was shut out 2-0 by Clarkson (4-5-3, 2-1-1 ECAC).

The Crimson did manage to get on the board against the Saints (7-1-2, 4-0-0 ECAC), but not before falling into a 3-0 hole to St. Lawrence on Saturday. Harvard eventually lost, 3-1.

ST. LAWRENCE 3, HARVARD 1

Saturday’s contest against the Saints was a close, hotly contested battle for the first 47 minutes of the game.

The Crimson came into the third period down just 1-0, but about midway through the frame, St. Lawrence broke out a pair of goals that ultimately put the game out of reach for Harvard.

At 7:11 into the third, Saints center Tara Akstull doubled St. Lawrence’s lead, sneaking a shot past Crimson junior goalie Christina Kessler.

The Saints struck again just three minutes later, when Emma Clark got the puck from Vanessa Emond and gave St. Lawrence a crucial insurance goal and a 3-0 advantage.

“It felt like the puck wasn’t bouncing our way,” Harvard tri-captain Jenny Brine said. “Our pucks were hopping over sticks and hitting posts, while they got lucky on some interceptions and breakaways.”

With just four and half minutes left to play, a Harvard offense that was stagnant all weekend finally woke up. Taking advantage of a power play, tri-captain Sarah Vaillancourt found junior Cori Bassett at the top of the right circle. Bassett slammed a slapshot past Saints goalie Britonny Chartier and into the back of the net.

“When [Bassett] gets a shot off, good things happen,” Stone said. “She has a very strong shot, and if she can get it through, it causes trouble for the players in front of the net.”

CLARKSON 2, HARVARD 0

While Kessler turned in a solid performance against the Golden Knights on Friday, making 18 saves, and the Crimson defense did its best to keep the team in the game, Harvard turned in a lackluster performance offensively and the Saints took away a 2-0 win.

“We started standing around and watching, and we got in trouble,” Stone said. “We’ve been playing some pretty good defense but we’re playing too much of it in our own zone.”

The Crimson easily outshot Clarkson, 35-20, but a combination of Dahm’s outstanding play in the net and Harvard’s inability to capitalize on the power play rendered the Crimson’s efforts fruitless.

“[Dahm] kept her team in the game,” Brine said. “She made a few huge saves on some breakaways. She was definitely a contributing factor to their win.”

Harvard’s opponent had better luck with the man-advantage when Melissa Waldie got the Golden Knights on the board with a power-play goal in the second period that proved to be the game-winner.

Clarkson tacked on to its lead in the third frame at even strength on a Marie-Jo Gaudet score with just over a minute left in the game.

“It’s a bit of an adjustment this year,” Brine said. “Getting a few losses under our belt early on is going to make us stronger later, because we know how it feels like to lose, and we don’t want that to happen again.”

Friday’s loss was the first game back for Stone and Vaillancourt, who represented the United States and Canada, respectively, at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y. Stone coached Team USA to a gold medal after beating Vaillancourt and Team Canada, 3-2, in the championship game.

“It was very exciting,” Stone said. “I enjoyed it but it was a tough time to be away this early in [Harvard’s] season.”

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