No. 6 Women's Hockey Beats No. 9 BU, 3-1

From the opening faceoff of the women’s hockey game at Bright-Landry Hockey Center Friday night, Harvard dominated Boston University on the ice.

Heading into a competition between two nationally ranked teams, the No. 6 Crimson, prepared accordingly for its highly anticipated contest against an undefeated No. 9 Boston University. The Terriers had never lost to Harvard in regular-season play.

“Going into it, we were really excited for the matchup,” junior captain Marissa Gedman said. “We’re both ranked and they’re our rival across the river.”

Harvard began the game playing aggressively, especially on offense outshooting BU (10-3-1, 6-0-0 Hockey East) 16-9 during the first period. The Crimson (7-1-1, 6-1-1 ECAC) continued imposing its will throughout the game, emerging with a 3-1 victory.

“It was the only game of the weekend, so we all just left it out there and luckily it ended in our favor,” Gedman said. “Every time we play one of those ranked teams it’s ‘do or die’ because those rankings are huge when it all comes down to it.”

Senior Gina McDonald opened the game with a goal in the first four minutes, her first of the season, assisted by sophomore Dylanne Crugnale.

“Getting that first goal is huge, no matter who we’re playing,” Gedman said. “We have that goal every time we come out. It was nothing different for us. We try to grab the momentum right off the bat and then keep it rolling because that’s huge, especially when the game’s in your favor.”

Although BU proved competitive during the second period, outshooting Harvard, 11-10, it failed to put a puck in the back of the net.

With subsequent goals coming from junior Samantha Reber and sophomore Miye D’Oench in the second and third periods, respectively, the Crimson used its entire roster, decreased due to three team members currently on the Olympic team, to capitalize on opportunities.

“Every game, you’re looking at our score sheet and it’s different names and a bunch of different players,” Gedman said. “That’s really important in a team, especially because of how small our team is, that we’re getting so much production from a bunch of different girls. We’ve always been a tight-knit group, but even tighter now that there’s only 17 of us.”

Led by sophomore goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer, who had 34 saves Friday night, the Crimson held BU scoreless until the final five minutes of play.

“[The defense] did a really good job of moving the puck quickly and pushing the pace,” D’Oench said. “Emerance came up big for us, giving us confidence from the back. From the net to the defense to the forwards, everyone was playing with confidence and that helped us win. We’re a very young team, but a lot of the younger kids have really stepped up and are playing like veterans even though they’re not.”

Looking forward, the Crimson hope to use the momentum gained in the early stages of the season to continue to progress and improve.

“A huge focus for us right now going into our game every week is playing three full periods,” Gedman said. “The full 60 minutes. It’s really hard to go out and keep that high pace like we had in the first period. That’s a huge focus for our team and that’s always something we can improve. We’re not worried about it, but it’s definitely something we’re thinking about.”