Minnesota Skates Past Harvard

Photo by DSPics.com

Final	1	2	3	Final
Harvard (4-3-2, 4-2-2 ECAC)	0	0	1	1
Minnesota (12-2-1, 10-1-1- WCHA)	1	0	2	3

Scoring Summary
1st - 00:32	Monique Lamoureux (Minnesota)
3rd - 05:33	Kelli Blankenship (Minnesota)
3rd - 09:03	SH - Emily West (Minnesota)
3rd - 14:40	PP - Jenny Brine (Harvard)

Harvard	Minnesota
G: Jenny Brine - 1 A: N/A Sh: 3 Players (#3, #9, #10 - 3) Sv: Christina Kessler - 19	G: 3 Players (#7, #17, #21 - 1) A: 5 Players (#2, #4, #10, #19, #21 - 1) Sh: 2 Players (#12, #21 - 5) Sv: Alyssa Grogan - 19

TEAM STATISTICS	Harvard	Minnesota
Power Plays	1 for 5	0 for 6
Shorthanded Goals	0	1
Penalties (min)	6 (12)	5 (10)
Shots on Goal	20	22
Face Offs Won	32	23

full stats

Boxscore

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The No. 9 Harvard women's ice hockey team dropped its first non-conference game of the season, falling at No. 2 Minnesota, 3-1, Friday evening.   Jenny Brine scored the lone Crimson goal on a power play at 14:40 of the third period. 

Christina Kessler made 19 saves for Harvard which falls to 4-3-2 on the season, while her counterpart Alyssa Grogan also pushed aside 19 shots for Minnesota which improves to 12-2-1.

Minnesota did not waste much time to get on the scoreboard, scoring only 32 seconds into action at Ridder Arena.  After the Crimson won the initial faceoff, Harvard dumped the puck into the Golden Gophers' zone, but Minnesota quickly recovered and moved it up the ice.  Kelly Seeler fed Gigi Marvin with a pass in the Harvard zone before Monique Lamoureux placed the game's first shot past Kessler.

Harvard's best chance of the opening frame came with about 90 seconds to go when Kati Vaughn stole a pass at the blue line and ripped a shot off the bottom of the right post.  After one, shots were tied, 5-5, with Harvard having killed two penalties for tripping.

The Crimson earned an early power play in the second stanza, but could not score with an extra attacker.  Liza Ryabkina blasted a slap shot in the first few seconds of the power play, but Grogan kicked the puck aside and later snared a Sarah Vaillancourt shot from the point. 

With five minutes gone by in the second, Sarah Wilson and Vaillancourt had a 2-on-1 opportunity, but Wilson's slapper missed the target.  At the 12:50 mark, Brine wristed a shot from between the circles, but Grogan again made the save, doing a split to save the puck with her left leg.  Moments later, Anna McDonald outskated a Gopher defender to the puck at the left circle and moved a quick pass across the ice to Randi Griffin, who was camped out in front.  The puck though skipped over Griffin's stick and away from the net. 

Harvard doubled up Minnesota, 10-5, in shots in the second period and had two power plays but could not muster a goal through two.

The Gophers extended their lead to 2-0 on a goal by Kelli Blankenship at 5:33 of the third.  After Sarah Erickson took a slapper from the left point, Blankenship stuffed in the rebound past Kessler.  Brittany Francis was credited with a secondary assist on the play.

With 12:39 remaining, Harvard earned a 5-on-3 power play for 44 seconds after Minnesota's Jocelyn Lamoureux was called for body checking.  On the ensuing two-attacker advantage, Cori Bassett took a slap shot from the top of the right circle and Brine flipped a shot on goal from the slot, but Grogan made both saves.  After the Gophers killed off the first penalty, Monique Lamoureux put the puck on the Crimson net and Emily West poked in the rebound behind Kessler to put the Gophers up 3-0 at 9:03.

Brine put Harvard on the board with an unassisted score at 14:40 of the third period after skating into the Minnesota zone and flipping the puck past Grogan.

Minnesota held the final count in shots, 22-20, including a 12-5 margin in the third.  The Crimson scored the game's only power-play goal, finishing 1-for-5 with an extra attacker while holding the Gophers scoreless on their six power plays.

Harvard and Minnesota will play a second game this weekend Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena.  The puck is scheduled to drop at 5 p.m. EST.