Team Notes: Harvard Wraps Up 2011 Against Providence, New Hampshire
The Particulars
Harvard finishes out the 2011 portion of its schedule, stepping
out of conference play for games at Providence and versus New
Hampshire. Both the Friars and Wildcats are members of Hockey
East.
Follow From Home
Harvard will provide streaming video (for a subscription) and live
statistics for all home games and provide links for road
games. Video and live stats links can be found on the women's
hockey schedule on GoCrimson.com.
Series History
Despite success against Providence over the past decade, the
Crimson trails in the all-time series against Friars, holding a
14-22-3 record in 39 career matchups. Harvard has claimed the last
four meetings between the two teams, and is 10-1-1 in the last 12
matchups. Providence was victorious in the first 16 matchups in the
series, including the inaugural game between the two, which went
the Friars' way by a score of 17-0.
The last time the two teams met was January 30, 2010 and the No. 7
Crimson defended its home turf with an exciting 2-1 victory over
No. 9 Providence at Bright. The Crimson struck first at the 5:16
mark of the opening period, as Kathryn Farni '10 fed Katharine
Chute '11 for the game's first goal. The Friars tied it up midway
through the third period, but a penalty soon after put Harvard on a
power play. Farni and Leanna Coskren '11 picked up assists as Randi
Griffin '10 notched the game-winning score with five minutes
remaining, allowing the Crimson to claim a 2-1 win.
The Crimson also trails in the all-time series against New
Hampshire, as the Wildcats hold a 27-14-3 edge over 44 matchups.
Harvard's most successful stretch against UNH came from 1998-2004
as the Crimson put together 12 straight wins. Harvard's biggest win
over the Wildcats came in 1999, when it defeated New Hampshire,
6-5, in the AWCHA National Championship Game to claim the lone
national title in team history. In recent history, the two teams
have played one another close, as three of the last four contests
have gone to overtime. Harvard is 1-1-2 in its last four games
against New Hampshire.
Last season, Harvard snapped a nine-game UNH unbeaten
streak in the series, taking down the Wildcats, 3-1, on their home
ice for the first time since 2003-04. The hosts took a 1-0 lead on
a Kristina Lavoie goal at 9:10 of the first, but Josephine
Pucci (Pearl River, N.Y.) leveled the score with a
power-play goal at 16:16 to end the first period in a 1-1 tie.
Then-rookie Lyndsey
Fry (Chandler, Ariz.) took over in the second period,
collecting her first and second career goals to give the Crimson a
3-1 lead. The Crimson defense went into lockdown mode in the final
frame, allowing just four shots en route to the 3-1 win.
Last Time Out
Down a goal midway through the third period, Harvard found its
stride offensively late in the game as the Crimson rallied for a
pair of scores to top Dartmouth, 2-1, Wednesday night at Thompson
Arena.
The Crimson offense got going late, upping the pressure in the
back half of the final period, resulting in a goal at the 12:52
mark. Sarah
Edney (Mississauga, Ont.) slid a pass to Marissa
Gedman (Framingham, Mass.), who brought the puck into
the Dartmouth zone and fired a long-distance shot on goalie Lindsay
Holdcroft. Holdcroft made the save but let up a long rebound and Elizabeth
Parker (Milton, Mass.) snuck in front of the net and put
away the carom for her third goal of the season.
The tie score didn't last long as the Crimson grabbed the lead for
good 1:05 later. Jillian
Dempsey (Winthrop, Mass.) collected the puck deep in the
corner and fed an advancing Kelsey
Romatoski (Woodbury, Minn.) near the left faceoff
circle. Romatoski flicked a shot on net that was redirected by
Lyndsey Fry past Holdcroft for the game-winning score. The Big
Green pulled its goalie and put a number of pucks on net, but Laura
Bellamy (Duluth, Minn.) was rock solid, despite losing
her stick for much of the final flurry, helping Harvard seal the
one-goal victory.
Scouting the Friars
It has been a tale of two seasons for the Friars in
2011-12. Providence brings an 8-9-3 overall record and 6-4-1 mark
in Hockey East play into the matchup with the Crimson.
The Friars had trouble getting off the ground, going winless in
their first seven games of the season against some fierce
competition. Since then, Providence has gone 8-4-1, bolstered by a
four-game winning streak from Nov. 6-19. The Friars' biggest win
came against No. 7 Boston University, taking down the Terriers,
4-3, Dec. 3 at Schneider Arena.
Abby Gauthier leads the Friars in scoring with a team-high 18
points and 13 assists. Corinne Buie is next on the list with 16
points and leads the squad with eight goals on the season. Laura
Veharanta (6-9-15), Ashley Cottrell (7-6-13), Kate Bacon (6-5-11)
and Jessica Vella (4-6-10) round out the sextet of Friar players
with double-digits point totals.
Genevieve Lacasse is the team's go-to-backstop, starting 15 of
Providence's 20 games this season. She boasts a 2.07 goals-against
average and a .928 save percentage, as well as four shutouts on the
year.
Scouting the Wildcats
A hot start cooled off quickly as New Hampshire, a
perennial powerhouse in women's college hockey, has had a tough go
of it this season. The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 start but have
stumbled since, bringing a 6-10-3 overall mark and 0-6-2 conference
record into the matchup with the Crimson.
Since it's fast start, New Hampshire has managed just three wins,
taking down Dartmouth, Princeton and Union is games decided by no
more than two goals. The Wildcats fought hard against
Hockey East foe No. 10 Northeastern in its last time out, battling
to a 3-3 tie Dec. 3 and dropping a 5-1 game the following day.
Sophomore forward has been a key member of the offense this season
for UNH, leading the team in points (16), goals (7) and tying for
the team lead with assists (9). Junior Kristine Horn is right
behind with 6-9-15 points on the year and classmate Kristina Lavoie
rounds out UNH's double-digit scorers with 6-4-10 points on the
season. Lavoie also leads the team with two game-winning tallies
this season.
Freshman Jenn Gilligan has seen the bulk of the action in goal
this season, playing in 14 games and holding a 5-6-2 overall
record. She leads the team with a 3.13 goals-against average and is
just off the team lead with a .874 save percentage. Senior Lindsey
Minton has also started four games for UNH and holds a save
percentage of .875.
Comeback Crimson
Three of Harvard's wins this season have been comeback victories.
The Crimson conceded the game's first goal in the season opener
against St. Lawrence and went onto score seven unanswered to cruise
to a 7-1 win. In the second matchup with Clarkson, a second-period
Golden Knights tally put Harvard in a 1-0 hole, but Harvard goals
47 seconds apart later in the period allowed for a 2-1 Crimson win.
In its last game, Dartmouth broke a scoreless tie in the third
period, but Harvard goals 1:05 apart propelled the Crimson to a 2-1
win.
Strong in the Second
The second period has been Harvard's best in terms of goal
differential this season. 12 of Harvard's 30 team goals have come
in the middle stanza, making it the Crimson's most productive
period. Harvard has also allowed only six goals in the second
frame, also a team-best mark.
The Final Month
While the Crimson typically only plays a handful of games in the
month of December, Harvard has had success in those games. In the
past three years, Harvard has compiled a 4-3-2 mark in the month of
December, against primarily non-conference opponents. Harvard had a
tough December last year as it dropped games to ranked local foes
Boston College and Boston University, but took down New Hampshire
on the road. Harvard was undefeated the year before, beating and
tying then-No. 2 Minnesota and topping Connecticut, 2-1. In
2008-09, Harvard went 1-1-1 in December with a win at league rival
Dartmouth.
Harvard Against Hockey East
Hockey East has become one of the strongest conferences in women's
college hockey, but the Crimson still holds a winning record
against Hockey East teams in recent years. Since 2009-10, Harvard
is 5-3-1 against Hockey East schools, bolstered by an undefeated
2009-10 campaign. Harvard tied New Hampshire, 1-1, and defeated
Connecticut and Providence, 2-1, at Bright. Harvard hosted and won
the Beanpot that season, downing Boston College, 5-0, in the first
round and Northeastern, 1-0, in the championship.
League's Elite
As a team, Harvard ranks among the top of the league in a number
of categories. The Crimson boasts the second-best scoring offense
in the league as one of just two teams averaging even or better
than three goals per game at 3.00 per contest. Harvard has
converted on 25.5 percent of its power-play chances, which also
ranks second in the ECAC, and its 12 power-play goals rank sixth in
the league, despite Harvard playing the fewest number of games of
any ECAC Hockey squad. Harvard has also allowed just eight
power-play goals this season, the third-lowest number in the ECAC.
Owning Rhode Island
The Crimson has played some of its best hockey against opponents
from the state of Rhode Island. In fact, Harvard hasn't lost to a
team from the Ocean State since the 2001-02 season. Harvard is
undefeated in its last eight games on the road against Providence,
with its last road loss to the Friars coming Feb. 7, 1998 by a
score of 6-5.
Everyday Dempsey
Junior Jillian Dempsey has been a consistent force for the Crimson
this season. Dempsey missed two games while suiting up for the U.S.
Women's National team, but in the eight games she has played for
Harvard, she has logged at least one point in seven. Dempsey has
four multi-point games on the season and has notched two points, on
a goal and an assist, in three of her last five games.
Killing Streak
Harvard put together a stretch of 19-straight penalties killed,
beginning in the game against Clarkson Nov. 18 and stretching to
the third period of the first of two games against Minnesota.
Harvard went 8-for-8 on the kill against St. Lawrence Nov. 19, its
best performance on the penalty kill since the 2007-08 season. The
last time Harvard was perfect on the penalty kill in a game where
it had at least eight penalties was Feb. 9, 2008 in a 5-0 win over
Rensselaer.
Nov. 23 against Dartmouth, the Crimson was flawless on the kill
once again, squashing six Big Green chances to stretch the streak
to 17. The Crimson picked up two more kills through the first two
periods against Minnesota, but the Gophers converted on a 5-on-3 to
snap the streak.
ECAC Recognition
After helping the Crimson clinch the season series sweep against
St. Lawrence and Clarkson last weekend, Laura Bellamy was named
ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week for Nov. 21. In Friday's game
against the Golden Knights, Bellamy was outstanding, recording her
second-highest saves total of the season, with 29 shots in a 2-1
victory. The Duluth, Minn., native was equally solid the following
night against the Saints, turning aside 26 shots and helping the
Crimson go a perfect 8-for-8 on the penalty kill for the first time
since the 2007-08 season. The award marks Bellamy's second league
recognition of her career, as she picked up a Rookie of Week nod as
a freshman.
Face The Facts
Jillian Dempsey is the go-to person when it comes to faceoffs for
Harvard. The junior has posted a winning faceoff record in four of
her eight games played and had her best performance on the dot
against Dartmouth Nov. 23. Dempsey won 18 of 29 faceoffs against
the Big Green.
