Team Notes: Harvard Returns to League Action at Union, Rensselaer
The Particulars
In its first action back from winter break, the Crimson returns to
ECAC Hockey play with road games against Union and Rensselaer.
Harvard is coming off a stretch of five non-league games,
four against nationally-ranked opponents, where it collected a
hard-earned road win at New Hampshire Dec. 9.
Series History
In 14 all-time matchups, Harvard has never lost to Union,
collecting wins in every meeting starting in 2003-04. The Crimson
has outscored the Dutchwomen 93-3 in the all-time series and has
recorded 11 shutouts. Last season, Harvard blanked Union, 4-0, at
Bright Hockey Center and edged the Dutchwomen, 2-1, in Schenectady
in the closest game ever between the two teams.
The Harvard-Rensselaer series is relatively young, with the
Crimson holding a 5-3-1 series edge over the Engineers. The teams
first played during the 2006-07 season and Harvard went 5-0-1 in
the first six meetings. The past three meetings have gone to RPI
and two of those games were decided in overtime. Last year, the
Engineers skated to a 4-2 win at Bright and then edged the Crimson,
3-2 in overtime, in Troy.
Last Time Out
Despite coming back from a two-goal deficit to tie the game at
2-2, Harvard could not stop Boston University from exploding for
two quick goals within 30 seconds of each other and dropped a 5-3
decision to the Terriers Dec. 10 at Bright Hockey Center.
Down 2-1, the Crimson quickly tied the game 2:24 into the third
period on Liza
Ryabkina's (Kharkiv, Ukraine) second goal of the night.
Ryabkina unleashed a heavy one-timer off a Leanna
Coskren (Walpole, Mass.) shot for the equalizer,
Ryabkina's sixth of the season. Josephine
Pucci (Pearl River, N.Y.) also assisted on the score.
With 00.3 showing on the clock, Katharine
Chute (Wayzata, Minn.) put an extra goal on the board for
the Crimson, assisted by Whitney
Kennedy (Mississauga, Ont.) and Alisa
Baumgartner (West Vancouver, B.C.), to bring the final
score to 5-3. Harvard held a 13-7 shot advantage in the final
stanza.
Keep 'Em Coming
The game against Boston University marked Harvard's sixth against
a ranked opponent in its last seven contests. The Crimson is 2-5 in
its seven 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 Nov. 26-28, dropped a 3-0 decision at
then-No. 2 Cornell Nov. 5 and lost, 6-2, to Boston College. In its
last time out, Harvard dropped a 5-3 decision to then No. 4/5
Boston University.
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 344-150-29 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.
Third Period's The Charm
Harvard has played some of its best hockey in the third periods of
games so far this season. While opponents have the scoring edge in
the first and second periods, the Crimson is outscoring its foes
14-11 in the third stanza. Harvard has also held its opponents to
the fewest number of shots, allowing just 75 pucks on net in the
third period this year.
Hold Your Fire
In 39 periods of regulation hockey so far this season, Harvard has
only allowed double-digit shots 10 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. Against UNH, Harvard allowed just 14 shots on net,
including three in the second period.
Harvard has yet to allow more than 30 shots to an opposing team in
a game this season. The Crimson is averaging 30.1 shots per game to
its opponents' 21.8 and is outshooting its opponents 391-283
through 13 games.
About Union
While the Dutchwomen are enduring another trying season, the team
has played a number of its opponents close. Union comes into the
Harvard game with an overall record of 1-16-3 and still in search
of its first conference victory at 0-6-2 in league play. Eight of
Union's 16 losses have been by just one goal and the Dutchwomen
defense has allowed four or more goals in a game on five occasions.
The Dutchwomen opened the 2011 portion of their schedule against
Vermont, dropping a pair of contests to the Catamounts by 2-1 and
3-1 scores. Union faces Dartmouth the day after facing the Crimson.
About Rensselaer
RPI enters the weekend just one point behind Harvard in the ECAC
Hockey standings, boasting a 4-3-1 conference record to go along
with a 6-7-6 overall mark. RPI heads into the weekend on a six-game
unbeaten streak, skating to ties in four of the contests. The
Engineers also earned wins against Union (4-1) and Syracuse (2-1)
during that stretch. RPI faces Dartmouth Jan. 7 in its first action
since a Dec. 4 tie with Union, before squaring off against the
Crimson.
Familiar Faces
The coaching staff at Union features a trio of former Harvard
women's hockey players. Claudia Asano '99 is in her fourth season
as head coach of Dutchwomen after serving five seasons as an
assistant with Harvard. Ali Boe '06 is also in her fourth season as
an assistant with the program and 2007 Patty Kazmaier Award winner
Julie Chu '06-07 is in her first year behind the Union bench.
New Faces
Seven freshmen are donning 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 was ranked in the first seven national
polls of the season, climbing as high as No. 7 in the Oct. 4
polls.
Getting Involved
Through 13 games this season, five of the six freshmen that have
seen game action have registered at least one point. Marissa Gedman
leads all rookies, with six points (1-5-6) on the season,
while Lyndsey Fry (2-2-4) has four points in just seven games.
Elizabeth Parker picked up her first goal of her career
against Dartmouth Nov. 19 and Gina McDonald tallied her first
collegiate point with an assist against Brown Oct. 30. Jackie Young
nearly picked up her first point against Colgate, hitting the pipe
with a slapshot from the blueline, is tied for the team lead with a
+3 rating heading into the Union matchup. Lauren Joarnt has seen
action in four games this season and currently holds a .852 save
percentage and 3.04 GAA.
It's All Over
Harvard is 114-2-6 (.958) since the start of the 2004-05 season
when leading after two periods.
Next Up For the Crimson
Harvard opens up a four-game homestand Jan. 14-15 when it
welcomes St. Lawrence and Clarkson to Bright Hockey Center.
