Team Notes: Beanpot Title Defense Begins Against Northeastern
The Particulars
The Harvard women's hockey team begins its Beanpot title defense
as it takes on Northeastern at Conte Forum in the opening game of
the 2011 tournament. The second game will feature two top-10 teams
in Boston University and host Boston College. The second round of
the tournament will be held Feb. 15 at Conte Forum.
Series History
The Harvard-Northeastern series is one of the few that the Crimson
trails in as the Huskies hold a significant 33-17-2 edge all-time
against Harvard. The majority of Northeastern's wins came in
the early years of the series as Harvard only managed four wins
over the Huskies from 1978-98. However, since the 1998-99 season,
the Crimson has taken control of the series, winning 13 of 16
matchups, including the last seven meetings. In that seven-game
stretch, Harvard has outscored Northeastern, 34-6.
The Huskies also hold a 16-13 series edge over the Crimson in
Beanpot action, and have a record 14 tournament titles, one more
than Harvard's 13. The Crimson collected its 13th Beanpot trophy
last season as it downed Northeastern, 1-0, at Bright Hockey Center
on the strength of Liza Ryabkina's fifth goal of the tournament.
The win marked the fourth-straight time Harvard had defeated the
Huskies in the championship game.
Last Weekend
The Crimson claimed a split at home, dropping a 3-2 decision to
Princeton Friday night and bouncing back with a 3-2 comeback win
over Quinnipiac Saturday. With the results, Harvard maintained it's
second-place position in ECAC Hockey standings.
The Tigers struck first in Friday's game but a pair of
second-period goals from Liza Ryabkina and Alisa
Baumgartner gave Harvard a brief 2-1 lead. A second Tiger
tally knotted the score at 2-2 and Princeton potted the game-winner
5:45 into the third to snap Harvard's six-game winning streak.
Two goals at the start of the second period by Quinnipiac put the
host Crimson in a 2-0 hole to start the third period Saturday.
Harvard showed its resilience in one of the best third-period
performances of the season, riding a pair of goals from
rookie Kalley
Armstrong and a third from Josephine
Pucci to a thrilling 3-2 comeback win.
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 352-152-29 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 69 periods of regulation hockey so far this season, Harvard has
only allowed double-digit shots in a given period 16 times (23
percent). Against Yale (Oct. 29), 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 Oct. 30. 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 New Hampshire, Harvard allowed just 14 shots on net,
including three in the second period. The Crimson did its best job
of shot-blocking against Union Jan. 7, allowing just 10 shots on
goal for the game, including just two in the final period. When
Harvard faced the Dutchwomen Jan. 22, it again allowed just 10
shots in the game, including just one in the first period of
play.
Harvard has allowed just one opponent to amass more than 30 shots
in a game this season as Quinnipiac racked up 32 shots Feb. 5 when
the Crimson totaled 44. Harvard is averaging 32.0 shots per game to
its opponents' 21.0 and is outshooting its opponents 735-483
through 23 games. Harvard recorded its highest shot total of the
season against Brown Jan. 28, firing 54 shots on goal. Harvard has
eclipsed the 40-shot mark five times this season.
About Northeastern
In and out of the top-10 all season, the Huskies have put together
a solid 2010-11 campaign in an effort to capture their first NCAA
tournament bid. Northeastern had a strong start to its season as it
dropped just one of its first nine contests. January has been a
more challenging month for the Huskies as they dropped a pair of
games to local rival Boston College within a two-week stretch. In
their last game, the Huskies skated to a 2-2 tie with Connecticut
as both teams netted goals in the third period of play.
Just Killing It
Despite having a tough go of it on the penalty kill in the first
half of the season, the Crimson has turned it on as of late. In its
past 11 games, Harvard has allowed just six power-play tallies and
killed 44 of 51 (86.3 percent) penalties. The Crimson killed all
six penalties against Rensselaer Jan. 8 and followed with a 4-for-4
performance against St. Lawrence Jan. 14. Harvard was also a
perfect 5-for-5 against Brown Jan. 28 and was penalty-free for the
first time this season against Union Jan. 22.
Two Down But Not Out
With an improving penalty kill, the Crimson has shown its mettle
by killing six 5-on-3 opportunities since the New Year. Harvard
stopped RPI on a two-skater advantage in a 2-1 loss Jan. 8 and then
killed another two-skater advantage in its next game, a 2-1 win
over St. Lawrence. The Crimson kept Rensselaer scoreless on two
seperate 5-on-3 scenarios in a 2-1 win at Bright Jan. 21. Harvard
also killed a pair of 5-on-3 situations against Quinnipiac Feb. 5,
enabling a 3-2 comeback win. Harvard has not allowed a 5-on-3 goal
all season.
Give Me an "O"
The Crimson has had its best results this season when it scores
more than two goals. Harvard has scored four or more goals six
times this season and has captured wins in all six games. The
Crimson is 5-1-1 in games it scores three goals, its only loss
coming to No. 4/5 Boston University in a 5-3 final.
Block You Like a Hurricane
A big reason that Harvard has been so successful in limiting
opponents' shots on goal has been the team's penchant for blocking
shots. Heading into the weekend, Harvard has out-blocked its
opponents 348-246. In 23 games played this season, the Crimson has
registered more blocked shots than its opponent in a game 16 times.
Harvard has also topped the 20-block barrier five times this season
with the most blocked shots in a game coming in the season opener
against Yale where 33 shots never made it to the goalie.
Four Pack
The Crimson scored four or more goals in a three-game stretch from
Jan. 22-29. Harvard blanked Union and Brown by identical 4-0 scores
and downed Yale, 5-3. The last time Harvard put together a streak
of three, four-goal games was Feb. 2-6, 2010, which was kicked off
with a 5-0 win over B.C. in the opening round of the Beanpot.
Getting It Done on the Road
With the weekend sweep of Brown and Yale Jan. 28-29, the Crimson
recorded it's first road weekend sweep since Nov. 20-21, 2009, when
it also topped Yale and Brown in their home rinks. Harvard also
upped its season road record to .500 for the first time in two
months, with a 6-6-1 mark away from home this season.
Timing is Everything
January was a month to remember for the Crimson. After posting
sub-.500 records in November and December, Harvard recorded its
best January record since the 2007-08 season, posting a 7-1-0
mark.
Saturdays have also been favorable for the Crimson this season as
Harvard has a 7-1-1 record in Saturday games and a 8-3-1 record in
afternoon contests.
Getting Involved
Through 23 games this season, all six freshmen have registered at
least one point. Marissa
Gedman has tallied eight points (3-5-8) on the season and
is tied for the rookie team lead with Lyndsey
Fry (5-3-8). Kalley Armstrong has seven points (4-3-7),
including a two-goal game against Quinnipiac Feb. 5.
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 and added her first goal against Union Jan.
22. Jackie
Young earned her first collegiate point against Clarkson
with an assist on Gedman's power-play goal in the second
period. Lauren
Joarnt has seen action in four games this season and
currently holds a save percentage of .852 and a 3.04 goals-against
average.
It's All Over
Harvard is 120-2-6 (.960) since the start of the 2004-05 season
when leading after two periods. The Crimson is 9-0-0 this season in
such situations.
First Things First
So far this season, Harvard is 9-1-0 when scoring first and 4-7-2
when conceding the first goal. The Crimson was 17-2-2 when
scoring first and 3-6-3 when the opponent lit the lamp first last
season.
Bright Spot
Harvard is 7-2-1 at Bright so far this season. The Crimson
owned a 14-4-3 record at Bright Hockey Center in 2009-10, and
posted a 6-4-2 mark on the road. Since Harvard hosted the
Beanpot in 2009-10, the Crimson played no neutral-site games.
