Team Notes: Harvard Set for Beantown Battle with No. 6/6 Boston College
The Particulars
The Crimson prepares for its fifth-straight game against a ranked
opponent as it travels up the road to face No. 6/6 Boston College
in a non-league matchup. The game marks Harvard's third
non-conference contest of the season.
Follow From Home
Harvard will provide live statistics for this weekend's game, all
home games and most road contests this season. Video and live
stats links can be found on the women's hockey schedule on
GoCrimson.com
Series History
Harvard and Boston College have met 45 times prior to tonight's
matchup, making the Eagles the team with the second-most
appearences on the Crimson's schedule among non-conference schools.
Harvard boasts a 36-9-0 series lead against BC, including a 5-0 win
last season in the opening round of the Beanpot. Harvard also
collected 17 straight wins over the Eagles between 1997 and
2005.
And What a Game It Was
Harvard powered past Boston College, 5-0, in the opening round of
the 2010 Beanpot at Bright Hockey Center, thanks to a noteworthy
performance by tournament MVP Liza
Ryabkina (Kharkiv, Ukraine). With the score even at 0-0,
Ryabkina opened the scoring with a goal in the second period and
exploded for three more in the third for the first four-goal game
of her career. It marked the first time a Harvard player recorded
four goals in a game since Sarah Vaillancourt '08-09 netted four
against Cornell Feb. 13, 2009.
Last Time Out
Senior tri-captain Kate
Buesser (Wolfeboro, N.H.) netted the final two goals of
the game but the rally fell short as Harvard dropped a 4-2 decision
to the No. 7 Minnesota Golden Gophers Sunday at Ridder Arena.
The Crimson finally broke through at the end of the second period
as Buesser took feeds from Leanna
Coskren (Walpole, Mass.) and Katharine
Chute(Wayzata, Minn.) and fired past Gopher goalie Noora Raty
for her third goal of the season at 2:02. Harvard fired 19 shots to
Minnesota's seven in the second stanza, but finished two periods of
play down 4-1.
With just under three minutes remaining in the game, Buesser
potted her second goal of the contest, bringing Harvard to within
two at 4-2. Alisa
Baumgartner(West Vancouver, B.C.) and Josephine
Pucci (Pearl River, N.Y.) tallied assists on the final
scoring play of the game.
Keep 'Em Coming
The game against Boston College will be Harvard's fifth-straight
contest against a ranked opponent. The Crimson is 2-3 in its five
games against ranked foes this season, collecting a pair of wins in
a home-and-home series with No. 9 Dartmouth. The Crimson fell to
No. 7 Minnesota twice in its last two outings, and dropped a 3-0
deicision at then-No. 2 Cornell Nov. 5.
Beanpot Battles
Even though Harvard and BC are in different conferences, they see
plenty of each other thanks to the annual Beanpot Tournament.
Harvard captured its 13th career Beanpot crown last season while BC
has three tournament titles to its credit. Of the three Eagles'
championships, two have come over the Crimson. In contrast, Harvard
has toppled Boston College four times in the Beanpot title
game.
Harvard Coach Katey Stone
Katey Stone, the Landry Family Head Coach for Harvard Women's
Hockey, is in her 17th season as Harvard's head coach, and she
holds a 343-148-29 career record, the most all-time victories
in Division I women's hockey. Stone has led Harvard to all eight of
its NCAA tournament appearances and was named the head coach of the
U.S. Women's National Team in the summer of 2010.
Hold Your Fire
In 30 periods of regulation hockey so far this season, Harvard has
only allowed double-digit shots nine times in a given period.
Against Yale, Harvard limited the Bulldogs to 13 shots in the game
including just three in the second period. Brown managed 15 total
shots and fired just two on net in the second stanza. Harvard held
Colgate to just two shots in the third period in a 3-1 win and also
held Quinnipiac to just two shots in the third period of a 4-1
loss. The Crimson was outshot for the second time this season Nov.
20 at Dartmouth, but came away from Hanover, N.H., with a 3-2
victory.
Harvard has yet to allow more than 30 shots to an opposing team in
a game this season. The Crimson is averaging 30.2 shots per game to
its opponents' 22.2 and is outshooting its opponents 302-222
through 10 games. Harvard's 243 shots on goal on the season is the
highest total in league play.
About Boston College
The Eagles are one of the hottest teams in the country entering
the Harvard matchup, earning victories in three of their last four
games and securing the No. 6 spot in both national polls. BC sits
atop the powerful Hockey East conference, leading the league with
26 goals in conference action. Last weekend, the Eagles handed the
state of New Hampshire a pair of losses, downing Dartmouth, 4-2,
Friday night and defeating UNH, 3-1, the following afternoon.
