Team Notes: No. 10 Harvard Continues Road Conquest Against Quinnipiac, Princeton
The Particulars
The Harvard women's hockey team continues its first road
stretch of the season as it takes on conference foes Quinnipiac and
Princeton this weekend. The three teams enter the weekend within
two points of each other in the ECAC Hockey league standings.
Follow From Home
GoCrimson.com will provide live statistics for this
weekend's games, all home games and most road contests this
season. Video is available for the Harvard-Princeton matchup
on Princeton's athletics website, GoPrincetonTigers.com.
Series History
Harvard holds the all-time series lead against Quinnipiac
with a record of 9-1-0. The Series between the Bobcats and Crimson
began in the 2005-06 season when Harvard collected 5-3 and 3-0
wins. The Crimson captured the first nine meetings between teams,
but the Bobcats earned their first win in the series in the teams'
last contest. After Harvard downed Quinnipiac, 7-2, last
November, the Bobcats shutout the Crimson Jan. 9 and skated to a
1-0 victory in Hamden.
The Crimson also holds the series edge against the Tigers with a 36-28-3 all-time record. Last season, the two teams met four times, twice in the regular season and twice in the ECAC Tournament quarterfinal. The Tigers kept the Crimson at bay during the regular season, downing Harvard 2-1 and drawing with it 3-3. In the playoffs, Harvard found its scoring drive and recorded 5-1 and 4-1 wins at Bright Hockey Center to sweep the Tigers and advance to the ECAC Hockey Tournament semifinals.
Last Time Out
Harvard netted two third period goals to pick up its
first road win of the season, downing Colgate, 3-1, last Saturday
at Starr Rink. The Crimson fell behind mid way through the first
and took a 1-0 deficit in to the second period, but senior Kate
Buesser netted her first goal of the season in the second
to knot the score at 1-1 heading into the final period.
Freshman Kalley
Armstrong scored the first goal of her collegiate career
just over five minutes into the third to stake Harvard to a 2-1
lead and senior Leanna
Coskren netted an insurance goal off a blast from the
point to give Harvard the 3-1 victory. Goalie Laura
Bellamypicked up her second win of the season and stopped 20
shots in the game.
Harvard Coach Katey Stone
Katey Stone is in her 17th season as Harvard's head
coach, and she holds a 341-145-28 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. Because of her committment to the National Team,
Stone will not be behind the bench during Harvard's next four games
as she will be with Team USA at the Four Nations Cup. Assistant
coaches Melanie Ruzzi and Maura Crowell will lead the team against
Quinnipiac and Princeton.
Crimson Captains
Leading the Crimson will be three senior captains: Kate
Buesser (Wolfeboro, N.H.), Leanna Coskren (Walpole, Mass.)
and Liza
Ryabkina (Kharkiv, Ukraine).
New Faces
Seven freshmen will don the crimson, black and white this
season. The class of 2014 is comprised of goaltender Lauren
Joarnt (White Bear Lake, Minn.), Kalley Armstrong (Maple,
Ont.), Lyndsey
Fry (Chandler, Ariz.), Marissa
Gedman (Framingham, Mass.), Gina
McDonald (New Brighton, Minn.), Elizabeth
Parker (Acton, Mass.) and Jackie
Young (Medford, Mass.).
Rank And File
Harvard began the 2010-11 regular season schedule ranked
in both national polls. The Crimson is No. 10 in the most recent
USCHO.com poll while the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll also
has Harvard at No. 10.
About Quinnipiac
The Bobcats have played 12 games already this season and
enter the game against Harvard with a 7-4-1 overall record and a
2-3-0 mark in league play. Quinnipiac took a roadtrip to New York
last weekend and returned with a 1-1 record, downing Union 3-2 and
falling to Rensselaer, 2-0. The Bobcats scored their first goal
againt Union just 30 seconds into the game and tallied three in the
opening period, hangin on for the 3-2 win. Against the Engineers,
Quinnipiac committed no penalties and conceeded an empty net goal
in the 2-0 defeat.
About Princeton
The Tigers enter the weekend in third place in ECAC
Hockey standings with a 3-2-0 conference record and 3-4-0 overall
mark. Princeton also faced RPI and Union last weekend, picking up a
pair of one goal victories, including an overtime win over the
Dutchwomen. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead over the Engineers on Friday
and after allowing a power-play goal midway through the second
period, held tight for the 2-1 win. Union jumped out to a 2-0 lead
the following day and after a Corey Stearns goal tied the game at
2-2 with 2:02 remaining, Sally Butler netted the game-winner just
1:13 into the extra period.
Thinking Inside The Box
So far this season, Harvard has racked up 51 penalty
minutes in just four games. That total is good for the highest
total in league action this season.
Getting Involved
Through the first four games, three of the five freshmen
that have dressed for every game have registered at least one
point. Marissa Gedman leads all rookies, and is tied for the team
lead, with three points (0-3-3) on the season, while Kalley
Armstrong scored a goal against Colgate and Gina McDonald had an
assist against Brown. Elizabeth Parker has seen significant
ice time up front and Jackie Young nearly picked up her first point
against Colgate, hitting the pipe with a slapshot from the
blueline.
Hold Your Fire
In twelve periods of regulation hockey so far this
season, Harvard has only allowed double-digit shots three 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 in the second stanza.
Harvard also held Colgate to just two shots in the third period in
a 3-1 win.
Harvard has yet to allow more than 30 shots to an opposing team in a game this season. The Crimson is averaging 35.1 shots per game to its opponents' 19.5 and is outshooting its opponents 141-78 through four games. Harvard's 141 shots on the season ranks second in league play.
It's All Over
Harvard is 112-2-6 (.958) since the start of the 2004-05
season when leading after two periods.
A Playoff Push
With the sweep of Princeton in the playoffs last season,
Harvard extended its streak of consecutive ECAC Hockey semifinal
appearances to 12 seasons. During that stretch, Harvard has faced
Princeton only once before in the quarterfinal round and that was
during the 2001-02 season. In that matchup, Harvard swept the
Tigers on their home ice by scores of 3-1 and 3-2 before falling to
Dartmouth, 4-2, in the 2001-02 semifinal.
