Unexpected Woes Continue as Harvard Tumbles

No. 2 Minnesota (13-2-1, 10-1-1 WCHA) trampled the No. 9 Harvard women’s hockey team (4-4-2, 4-2-2 ECAC) in a double effort this weekend. The Crimson lost by 3-1 and 3-2 scores in its first non-conference play of the season at the Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. The Gophers maintained their winning streak against Harvard, as Minnesota last claimed a 4-3 victory over the Crimson in the 2005 NCAA championship game.

MINNESOTA 3, HARVARD 2

Despite losing again, Harvard played consistently on Saturday night, challenging Minnesota’s strong offense, which had a total of 28 shots on goal compared with the Crimson’s 22.

In the first period, the Gophers took an 11-6 lead in shots and showed aggressive offensive play. The attack won Minnesota the first goal when Gopher Brittany Francis beat Harvard junior goaltender Christina Kessler with 14:40 to go in the period.

“In the second [game], I think that we came out a little flat in the first, but definitely picked it up in the second and third periods,” Kessler said.

The Crimson shined in the second period. At 13:09, tri-captain Sarah Vaillancourt grabbed the puck and made an unassisted slick shot beneath Gopher goalkeeper Jenny Lura’s skate, straight into the net to tie the game.

The third period saw the most action overall, starting with a goal at 2:43 from Minnesota’s Rachael Drazan.

The Gophers continued to crank up the physicality, giving Harvard multiple opportunities to come back on power plays. But a strong Minnesota defense held the Crimson at bay until junior defender Kathryn Farni, assisted by classmate Cori Bassett, broke through on the power play at 12:21, tying the game at 2-2.

“I think that we came out firing,” Kessler said. “I think there were bad officiating calls that put us in a sitation where we had to kill off a lot of penalties, and there were a few goals that could have been called back, and who knows what could have happened.”

Just minutes later, the Crimson defense could not withstand Gopher Jen Schoullis, who scored the tiebreaker and ultimately sealed the victory for Minnesota.

“I think we certainly had our chances to win the game and our kids played well,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “They played at the level that they need to play [at]. As far as the season [goes], I think [the games are] a great measure of where we are at and where we need to go.”

MINNESOTA 3, HARVARD 1

In the first game of the series, the Gophers wasted no time in securing an advantage over Harvard, starting with a goal in the first 32 seconds of play from Minnesota’s Monique Lamoureux. But for the rest of the first period and all of the second, the Crimson’s dynamic defense managed to hold off the fierce Minnesota offense.

During the second period, the Gophers managed only five shots on goal compared with Harvard’s 10, though neither team scored.

“We matched them,” Stone said. “I think they are a highly skilled team, and I think that we did a good job with them.”

But it was in the third period that Minnesota pulled decisively ahead of Harvard, first with a goal from Gopher Kelli Blankenship at 5:33, followed by another from Emily West just four minutes later. With the score 3-0, Minnesota was too far ahead for the Crimson to catch up.

“There were a couple of questionable goals that were scored that could have gone the other way if it had been in our favor...so the kids did everything that they could do,” Stone said.

Harvard did not let up, though, and tri-captain Jenny Brine outskated the Gophers and scored a final goal, unassisted, at 14:40 in the third period.

“We changed a few things in the power play and we changed our forecheck on Friday night to adjust to what they were doing and stayed with that on Saturday so...we were right there [with them],” Stone said. “It could have gone either way, and that’s a good thing.”

“I think that we played our hearts out for a whole 60 minutes, both games,” Kessler added.