Record Attendance on Hand to See Women's Hockey Down Cornell

This Saturday, the Harvard women’s ice hockey team beat Ancient Eight rival Cornell with 2,028 fans on hand at its annual White the Bright event, breaking the team’s single game attendance record.

Firing 41 shots on net for the second consecutive game, the No. 5/5 Crimson (14-3-2, 11-2-1 ECAC) beat the No. 9/10 Big Red (10-7-3, 8-3-2), 3-0, in a game full of last-minute goals.

The win came less than 24 hours after the team's victory against Colgate. But that win had already escaped the minds of the Harvard skaters, who were all focused on long-time rival Cornell.

“The atmosphere was awesome,” junior forward Miye D’Oench said.“On the whole, the game was its own horse really. It was really fun to play in, and it was really, really fun to win.”

While Harvard’s first two goals came in the game’s opening period, the contest’s defining moment came 57 seconds before the final whistle blew, when junior forward Mary Parker scored an empty net goal. Parker received a pass from senior defenseman Marissa Gedman and wasted no time putting the puck in the back of the net to notch her second goal of the night.

“Our goal was to play the full 60 minutes and play our best for the entirety of the game,” D’Oench said. “Cornell has a really short bench, so we really wore them down with relentless forechecking and backchecking. By the end of the game, they really didn’t have that much left in the tank, so we were able to bury them.”

Parker’s other goal bookended the match, coming only three minutes into the first period. The assist came from senior defenseman Sarah Edney, her second of the weekend and eighth of the season.

The set of goals scored by Parker marked her seventh and eighth goals this season, bringing her point total to 20. She led the Crimson in shots on goal with eight.

Harvard had a flare for the dramatics on its second goal as well, scoring with 42 seconds left in the first period. Co-captain junior defenseman Michelle Picard drove the puck into the top left corner. She was assisted by fellow captain Samantha Reber and senior defenseman Josephine Pucci.

For Picard, who had notched an assist the night before, her second goal of the season came on a power play after the Big Red was penalized for having too many players on the ice. The Crimson went 1-for-2 on the man advantage, while Cornell failed to capitalize on its opportunities, going 0-for-3.

“We take a lot of pride in both our power play and our penalty kill,” Pucci said.“The power play really is an opportunity to pick it up a notch, [and] get the momentum and energy on our side.”

Both teams went scoreless in the second period, despite the 41 shots taken—26 and 15 from Harvard and Cornell respectively. The Crimson's second period shot total exceeded that of Cornell for the entire game, as Harvard went on to outshoot the Big Red, 41-22. The Crimson won the faceoff battle as well, winning 35 compared to Cornell’s 30.

Junior goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer anchored the Harvard defense from the crease, earning her second shutout of the season and Harvard's second of the weekend.

D’Oench credits the Crimson's success on both the offensive and defensive ends to the team’s ability to work together.

“The [forechecking and backchecking] gave our bench a lot of energy,” D’Oench said. “And [Maschmeyer] was really solid in net, so that gave us a lot of confidence too. The whole unit was working together, feeding off each other’s momentum.”

With two wins on the weekend, Harvard now trails No. 3/4 Quinnipiac in the ECAC standings by only a point. The Crimson will have a chance to take first place Friday on the road against the Bobcats, but for now, the team is remaining focused on internal improvement.

“We’re just trying to get better as a team every day and every practice,” Pucci said.“We’re just trying to progress and get better both individually and collectively. And hopefully we’ll be able to build on things that we take away from each game.”

—Staff writer Isabel DeLaura can be reached at idelaura@college.harvard.edu.