Crimson, Kessler Shut Out No. 2 Gophers At Bright For Second Consecutive Time

Two games. Two game-winning goals. At moments during the Harvard women’s hockey team’s 0-0 tie with No. 2 Minnesota (13-3-2) at Bright Hockey Center on Saturday, it looked like junior forward Liza Ryabkina would get a third.

“I wasn’t disappointed at all that I didn’t score,” Ryabkina said. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t score overall. It’s sad to end up with a tie when we should have won this game because our heart and effort were there.”

But though it was unable to put the puck in the net, the Crimson (7-3-2, 6-3 ECAC) twice shut out a Golden Gopher team that hadn’t been shut out since Nov. 17, 2007. Harvard goaltender Christina Kessler made 29 saves Saturday to follow up her 24-save effort Friday.

“It’s always a great feeling to finish a game with a shutout,” the senior said. “Defensively I thought we played really, really well.”

For all of Kessler’s dominance, her Gopher counterpart, Noora Raty, had the tougher job Saturday afternoon, as the Crimson outshot Minnesota, 39-29. It was Harvard that took control of the puck early and repeatedly challenged the net.

“Team effort was incredible,” Ryabkina said. “Everyone was so excited to play both of these games.”

The Crimson doubled the Gophers’ shots in the first period, 14-7, but was unable to capitalize.

“We did control the puck a lot,” Ryabkina said. “But you know it’s a game, sometimes the pucks go in and sometimes they don’t.”

This season, not too many pucks have gotten past Raty, who came into the doubleheader with a 0.99 goals-against average.

The Minnesota freshman has been on the Finnish National Team since she was 15 and made 78 saves in the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships to help Finland take bronze. Raty held off 14 shots from eight different players in the first period alone. The freshman’s net play gave her teammates time to adjust to the aggressive Crimson attack.

“We had plenty of chances,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “Their goalie was tremendous.”

And it seemed that every time the Gophers took possession from the Crimson, it got a shot off shortly after. No matter where the turnover occurred, the puck somehow found its way to Minnesota forward Emily West, the nation’s seventh-leading point scorer. The junior lived up to expectations, always a threat with the puck and registering five shots on the night.

But Kessler was always there.

“Kessler did a great job,” Stone said. “We try to play stingy defense. We did it really well last night. We did it pretty well tonight.”

Stingy defense became crucial in the third period, when the Gophers finally outshot Harvard, 13-11. On the other end of the ice, the Crimson nearly got goals from freshman Kaitlin Spurling and junior Kate Buesser, the team’s leading scorer. But both shots missed the net.

Harvard was unable to capitalize on power plays, despite Minnesota senior Kelli Blankenship getting boxed for cross-checking at 4:59 into the third period. 70 seconds later, teammate Terra Rasmussen was called for hooking to give the Crimson a five-three advantage for 50 seconds. But the three Minnesota skaters packed in around the goal and prevented Harvard from penetrating, actually managing to take away the puck to set up a scoring opportunity of their own. Kessler made the save, falling to the ice in the process. A whistle was blown, and the senior recovered quickly.

Ryabkina, who took five shots in the second period, looked to find the back of the net again. Twice she was able to beat the Gopher defense, but neither ended in a tally for the Crimson. With around eight and a half minutes left in the game, the junior missed an open shot. Raty was able to get to her before she could register what would have been her second shot of the period.

“I just wanted to score because I knew how much everyone wanted to score,” the forward said. “Even though we didn’t find the back of the net in this game, we put a tremendous effort into it.”

Overtime gave the two teams one more chance to get on the board, but quick offsides calls for both teams set the tone for the five-minute period. Neither team would be able to mount much offense, and when the time expired, neither team would have a goal to its name.

The Gophers would board the plane back to the Twin Cities without having scored on a Crimson team that opened its season at 2-3-0.

“They’re getting better all the time,” Stone said of her team. “They’re able to ante up to whatever level we need to play at. For us, we need to set the pace at that intensity level every single time we play.”

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.