Two-Goal Deficit Proves Insurmountable in No. 9 Women's Hockey's 2-0 Loss

With just over four minutes to play in the first period of a fast-paced rematch of top-10 teams, the No. 9 Harvard women’s hockey team found itself knotted at zero goals apiece with the third-ranked team in the nation—ECAC rival Cornell.

But despite outshooting the Big Red by a margin of 22-14 over the course of the game, the Crimson emerged winless for the seventh consecutive time against Cornell, falling, 2-0, Friday night at the Bright Hockey Center.

“We’re always pumped to play Cornell,” said junior assistant captain Josephine Pucci. “We’ve been looking forward to this game all week. Obviously it’s tough, and we’re disappointed with the loss.”

“It was a track meet,” Harvard coach Katey Stone continued. “There’s no doubt about it. There were a lot of great players on the ice, moving the puck quickly. Those are the kinds of games that are fun to play.…We wish we could play at this pace every day.”

The last 4:04 of the initial frame proved deadly for the Crimson (11-5-1, 8-3-1 ECAC), as the Big Red (16-2-0, 11-1-0) tallied both of its goals in that final stretch. After working the puck down the center of the ice, Cornell senior center Kendice Ogilvie played a pass toward the crowded left side of the Harvard net. In the ensuing scramble, classmate right wing Rebecca Johnston found the puck and tucked it past junior assistant captain and goaltender Laura Bellamy.

“We made a couple mistakes in the first period, and [against] a good team like that, it’s going to cost you,” Stone said. “But we bounced back, we never backed off, [and] we handled their speed. There are no moral victories; however, I’m really pleased with how our kids played.”

Soon after Cornell’s first goal, at 18:07 in the first period, Big Red defender Alyssa Gagliardi earned her second trip to the penalty box of the night. But the Crimson failed to capitalize on that power play opportunity or any of its other five of the night.

Just 1:36 later, an interference violation sent sophomore defenseman Marissa Gedman off the ice to even the matchup at 4-on-4. And with 1.5 seconds to play in the period, Cornell’s Brianne Jenner sent a tough mid-range shot toward the Harvard net where Big Red defender Lauriane Rougeau deflected the puck into the net, putting the Crimson in a 2-0 hole.

“We have to be ready to go for 60 minutes,” Stone said. “That’s what it takes to win a hockey game. You can’t take five minutes off at the end of the first period. It’s going to kill you.”

After an uneventful opening to the second period, Harvard and Cornell traded power plays later in the frame, as Cornell’s Hayleigh Cudmore and sophomore forward Kalley Armstrong were sent to the penalty box within 20 seconds of one another for checking and interference, respectively.

The Crimson set the stage for a potential last-second comeback after Cornell’s Chelsea Karpenko was booked for hooking at 19:16 in the third. After a timeout with 43.6 on the clock, Harvard pulled its goaltender to give the team an offensive boost. But despite amassing three shots in the final minute, the Crimson could not find the back of the net.

“We have to score,” Pucci said. “There were a lot of rebounds we just couldn’t put away, and we need to be a little stingier on [defense]. We did a good job not giving up shots, but they’re going to be capitalizing on our mistakes.”

Cornell’s victory over Harvard marks its second of the 2011-12 season. When the teams first met on Nov. 12, the Big Red earned a 5-3 victory over the Crimson in Ithaca, N.Y.

But the two teams that met earlier this season were decidedly weaker than the squads that faced off Friday night in Cambridge, as a conflict with the Four Nations Cup left both Harvard and Cornell with depleted rosters in the teams’ first meeting.

“We’re not completely healthy yet, but we had more players in the lineup [than the last time we played Cornell],” Stone said. “You want to play at full strength, and see where the chips fall. Hopefully we’ll get another chance to play them.”

—Staff writer Catherine E. Coppinger be reached at ccoppinger@college.harvard.edu.