Third Weekend Sweep in a Row for Surging Crimson

The Harvard women’s hockey team is hitting its stride at the right time. After struggling at the beginning of the season, the Crimson (12-7-2, 11-3-2 ECAC) has turned things around just as the ECAC playoff race heats up, winning seven of its last eight contests. Harvard’s two wins at Brown and Yale this weekend showed just how far the Crimson has come since it first took the ice.

“I think we’re a completely different team,” tri-captain Kate Buesser said. “I think we’ve come together. We’ve had a lot of lowerclassmen step up and play a lot harder than they thought they could.”

Harvard’s new versatility shined during the weekend, as seven different players found the back of the net.

“We’ve evolved,” Buesser said. “Our system’s better. We’ve stepped it up in our team chemistry. We’re able to settle into our game and how we want to play...We’ve changed for the better.”

HARVARD 5, YALE 3

In its season opener, the Crimson was surprised by a Bulldog squad led by its former assistant coach, Jaokim Flygh.

“We barely tied them [the first time],” tri-captain Liza Ryabkina said.

But while Flygh and Yale (5-14-2, 4-9-1) continued to provide a challenge on the ice, Harvard was ready on Saturday.

“We knew we were going to have to fight,” Ryabkina said.

The Crimson drew first blood four and a half minutes into the game when sophomore Jillian Dempsey scored off an intercepted pass.

But less than six minutes later, rookie Jenna Ciotti evened the score.

The back and forth nature of the game continued throughout all three periods with the team’s going goal-for-goal and nearly shot for shot. The contest finished with Harvard barely outshooting the Bulldogs, 30-24.

“I was really impressed with how efficient and hard working they were,” Ryabkina said. “It’s partly a testament to our ex-coach, Joakim. You could definitely see that they were sticking to their game plan. They kept coming back.”

But while Yale was able to keep the game competitive, it was never able to take the lead.

“I think the [difference] was being able to respond,” Buesser said. “Every time they were able to score a goal or have a shot, we were able to counter really well.”

Early in the second period, freshman Lyndsey Fry and Ryabkina scored back-to-back goals to put the Crimson up, 3-1, and the Bulldogs were again able to even up the score.

Harvard would not even allow Yale the final say on its own ice. When Bulldog junior Aleca Hughes brought her team within one with two minutes left to play, it seemed that Yale would finish the game with only a one-goal loss.

But with 15 seconds left in regulation, Buesser and classmate Katharine Chute scored on an empty net to put the final margin at two.

HARVARD 4, BROWN 0

The results were the same, but the games were completely different.

In October, the Bears (2-16-3, 1-10-3) kept the game competitive, and the Crimson got through with a two-goal win. But on Friday, the margin better reflected the difference between the ECAC’s second- and second-to-last place teams.

“One thing was being able to come out fast,” Buesser said. “We were able to knock them on their heels. We kept up that tempo and got a lot of scoring opportunities.”

Ryabkina struck first, rebounding a missed shot by Dempsey and stuffing the puck into the net.

“We’ve been working on shooting: getting low, getting rebounds,” the tri-captain said.

Ryabkina’s goal also marked the first goal the team had scored with its new powerplay strategy.

“We switched our powerplays this past week,” Ryabkina said. “We did a good job capitalizing on the opportunities.”

But while Ryabkina scored the game-winner in the first ten minutes of ice time, Harvard didn’t hit its stride until the second period when it scored three goals in 15 minutes.

Sophomore Josephine Pucci and freshman Marissa Gedman scored on even strength goals while Buesser tallied the final goal on a powerplay at 15:40.

“The goals weren’t easy goals,” Ryabkina said. “That’s just sort of how our team is.”

Meanwhile, on the other end of the ice, sophomore goaltender Laura Bellamy secured her second straight shut out. Bellamy saw more action than she had in the Crimson’s previous matchup against Union—25 shots as opposed to 10—but her success was identical.

“She’s played very consistently,” Buesser said. “That’s exactly what we want from her.”

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