Team Notes: Harvard Opens Home Schedule with Clarkson, St. Lawrence
The Particulars
Harvard opens its home schedule against a pair of familiar foes as
the Crimson welcomes Clarkson and St. Lawrence to Bright Hockey
Center this weekend. Harvard has already faced both the Golden
Knights and Saints this season, defeating both teams on their home
rinks at the end of October.
Series History
After a tough 2009-10 season against the Golden Knights, the
Crimson rebounded last year with a win and a tie in the teams' two
meetings. Harvard edged Clarkson, 2-1 in overtime, earlier this
season. The results helped Harvard increase its all-time series
lead to 15-5-2 over Clarkson.
Against Clarkson in Potsdam earlier this season, a Josephine
Pucci power-play goal gave Harvard the lead early in the
second, but the Golden Knights tied it with just 35 seconds left in
the middle stanza. A scoreless third pushed the game into overtime,
and it was Marissa Gedman to the rescue, as the
sophomore received a pass from rookie Michelle Picard
and fired true just 1:32 into the extra frame to seal the dramatic
2-1 victory.
Harvard and St. Lawrence have some recent history, as the teams
squared off in the 2011 ECAC Hockey quarterfinals. The Crimson
holds the all-time series lead against St. Lawrence,
33-11-5, aided by a quartet of victories over the Saints last
season and a win in the teams' first meeting of the 2011-12
campaign.
The Crimson put on an offensive display in its season-opener
against the Saints, netting seven unanswered goals after falling
behind early to notch a 7-1 road win. Classmates Lyndsey
Fry and Gedman tallied three points each on the day, with
Fry netting a pair of goals and Gedman dishing out a pair of
assists. Jillian Dempsey also scored twice in the
game, while Samantha Reber posted her first collegiate
points with a goal and an assist.
Last Weekend
The Crimson put together another successful road trip to New York,
picking up two points with a win over Colgate and a loss to No. 2/2
Cornell.
An early goal from sophomore Elizabeth Parker just 42 seconds into
the game proved to be huge as junior Laura Bellamy
posted her first shutout of the season with 20 saves on the night.
Lyndsey Fry added an empty-net goal with 51 seconds to play in the
game to seal the 2-0 victory.
A pair of first-period power-play tallies put the Crimson in a 2-0
hole against the Big Red, but rookie Sarah Edney got
Harvard on the board with her first collegiate tally to close the
first period. Cornell reclaimed a two-goal cushion midway through
the middle stanza, but freshman Hillary Crowe answered
back with her first collegiate goal, and a Kaitlin
Spurling marker tied the game at 3-3 late in the third.
However, Cornell answered with two more scores in the final 7:23 to
sink the Crimson by a 5-3 final. Bellamy collected a season-high 31
saves in the loss.
Dramatic Win for Stone
While the Crimson was in New York fighting for league points last
weekend, Harvard head coach Katey Stone and three Crimson players
(Josephine Pucci, Michelle Picard and Jillian Dempsey) were in
Sweden with the U.S. Women's National Team competing in the
Four Nations Cup.
After putting together a 2-1 record through pool play, Team USA
avenged a first-round loss to Canada, topping the Canadians, 4-3
(2-1) in a shootout to claim the tournament crown. It was Team
USA's first Four Nations title since 2008 and the team kept Canada
from claiming its third-straight championship. Former Harvard stars
Caitlin Cahow '07-08 and Julie Chu '06-07 were also on the United
States' roster.
Spreading The Wealth
Through four games this season, 12 of the 15 Harvard skaters that
have seen action have scored points. Ten different players have
scored goals this season, while assists have been recorded by 10
players as well.
Thanks For Helping
Against No. 2/2 Cornell, sophomore Kalley Armstrong
assisted on all three of Harvard's goals. It was the first
multi-assist game of her career, and the three points were also a
career best. Armstrong's first multi-point game came against
Quinnipiac Feb. 5, 2011, when she netted a pair of goals in a 3-2
Crimson victory.
Welcome Additions
All four freshmen position players have made an impact already
this season. Through just four games, all four rookies have logged
at least one point. Hillary Crowe and Samantha Reber are pacing the
class of 2015 with 1-1-2 points each while Sarah Edney scored
against Cornell and Michelle Picard logged an assist against
Clarkson.
Harvard in Home Openers
While the Crimson has gone 0-1-2 in its last three home openers,
the team has been strong over the past decade in such games.
Harvard is 7-1-2 in home openers since the 2001-02 season,
compiling seven straight victories from 2001-2007. Harvard is
15-16-2 all-time in home openers.
Pucci Please
With a pair of assists in the St. Lawrence game and a goal and an
assist against Clarkson, Josephine Pucci extended her team-leading
point streak to seven games, dating back to last season. The streak
started with a goal in Harvard's 7-0 win over Colgate Feb. 18,
2011, and was highlighted by her three-assist night in an 8-3
blowout of St. Lawrence in the ECAC Quarterfinals Feb. 26. Pucci
has goals in five of the seven games during the scoring
stretch.
Road Warriors
Harvard began its season with four-straight road contests for the
first time since the 2002-03 season. That season got off to a hot
start as well, as the Crimson went 3-1-0 in its first four games.
Harvard topped Vermont (13-0), Dartmouth (9-2) and Minnesota Duluth
(2-1) before dropping a 4-3 decision at Minnesota.
Recognize
After downing St. Lawrence and Clarkson, two teams that were
receiving votes in both major polls, in its season-opening
weekend, the Crimson jumped up to No. 10 in both the USA
Today/USA Hockey Magazine and the USCHO.com polls.
Crimson, White and Blue
Three current members and two formers members of the Crimson were
on the U.S. roster for the 2011 Four Nations Cup in Nykoping,
Sweden. Josephine Pucci played in her fourth tournament with the
team, having earned a spot on the roster prior to the 2010 Four
Nations Tournament. Jillian Dempsey made her second appearance with
the team after debuting at the 12 Nations Tournament this summer,
and Michelle Picard made her debut with the U.S. National
team. Veterans Julie Chu and Caitlin Cahow were also on the
roster for the 2011 Four Nations Cup.
First Things First
Over the past three seasons, Harvard is a combined 32-3-2 when
scoring first and 8-16-7 when conceding the first goal. Harvard
picked up wins against St. Lawrence and Clarkson Oct. 28-29,
scoring first against the Golden Knights and conceding the first
goal against the Saints. The Crimson was 13-1-0 last season when
netting the first goal of the game.
