Women's Hockey Starts NCAA Tournament Saturday

Men’s basketball is not the only Harvard squad going dancing this week.

The No. 5 Crimson women’s hockey team will also be participating in the NCAA Tournament—albeit a much smaller one—beginning Saturday when it travels locally to face No. 4 Boston College at Kelley Rink.

With only eight teams in the bracket, a win would give Harvard its first Frozen Four birth since 2008.

Harvard (24-6-3) is coming off a heartbreaking 2-1 loss at No. 2 Cornell in the ECAC Championship Game last weekend, when a late slashing penalty on senior defenseman Sarah Edney gave the Big Red a power play opportunity, which it took advantage of by tallying the game-winning goal with 1:40 to go.

“That one stung,” co-captain Jillian Dempsey said. “But it is amazing to know that we have another chance to make a go at things.”

Indeed the Crimson does, as Harvard earned an at-large berth to its first tournament since 2010 following a season in which it reached as high as No. 2 in the country.

If Harvard is going to be successful in that tournament, it will need freshman goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer to stay hot.

After recording two shutouts in four games, the rookie was named the ECAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. During the regular season, she ranked third in the country in goals against average; no other freshman ranked in the top twenty.

Though Maschmeyer spent most of that time platooning in net with co-captain Laura Bellamy—who ranks second in the nation in saves and goals against average—the rookie appears to have earned the postseason starting job.

“[Maschmeyer’s] been incredible for us all year,” co-captain Jillian Dempsey said. “We set the bar really high and she has done more than we asked of her.”

The freshman made a career-high 34 saves in the teams’ last meeting on Feb. 5, in the first round of the Beanpot.  But she surrendered a pair of goals in the final 12:38 to allow Boston College to rally back from a third-period deficit to top the Crimson, 2-1.

On Saturday, the Harvard offense will likely need to score more than once to take down the Eagles, who rank second in the country with 4.40 goals per game.

Harvard’s defense, which ranks second in the nation in its own right, has often been up to the task this year and has allowed just 1.15 goals per contest.

Edney received first-team All-Ivy honors last weekend, while fellow defenseman Michelle Picard was named an honorable mention.

Those two will be among the group helping Maschmeyer try to fend off the Boston College attack, which is led by sophomore forward Alex Carpenter, whose 68 points on 37 goals and 31 assists placed her fifth in the country this year.

Freshman Haley Skarupa (23 goals, 27 assists) and sophomore Emily Field (15 goals, 29 assists) give the Eagles three of the nation’s top 20 leading scorers, making them the only team in the nation besides No. 1 Minnesota to boast that distinction.

Things could get especially interesting on the power-play. The Crimson features the nation’s best penalty kill, but the Eagles are second in the country in power-play percentage.

Leading the Harvard attack will be Dempsey, who was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection following a season in which she ranked 11th in the country with 24 goals.

The senior was one of ten standouts initially named a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier award, given to the nation’s best player. But that list was recently narrowed to three members of the Gophers, who have not lost or tied any of their 33 contests this season.

Assuming Minnesota can get past Mercyhurst, whom it faces in its NCAA first round contest, the Crimson would have the chance to hand the Gophers their first loss of the season in the semifinals, which take place on Minnesota’s home ice.

But to get there, Harvard must take down its local rival first.

Though the Crimson holds a 36-13-0 edge in the all-time series against Boston College, it is just 6-8 in the NCAA tournament all-time.

The two squads have never met in the postseason, but with a Frozen Four bid on the line, the Crimson is ready to give the Eagles its best shot.

“We have a lot to look forward to,” Maschmeyer said. “We just have to stick to what we know.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @ScottASherm.