Team Notes: No. 8 Harvard Takes on Host Boston U. in Beanpot Opening Round
The Particulars
In search of its 14th tournament title, the Harvard women's hockey
team takes on host Boston University in the first round of the 34th
annual Women's Beanpot Tuesday at Walter Brown Arena.
Harvard's last Beanpot title came in 2010 when it topped
Northeastern, 1-0, in the final at Bright Hockey
Center.
Series History
Harvard and Boston University first squared off during the 1978-79
season, with the Terriers taking the inagural game, 6-5, in
overtime. BU went on to take six of the first seven matchups but
from 1982-2009, Harvard didn't drop a game, collecting 20 straight
wins, giving the Crimson a 21-7-0 edge in the all-time series. The
Terriers had the last laugh, however, taking down the Crimson, 5-3,
last season at Bright Hockey Center.
In the final game of the 2010 calendar year, the Terriers jumped
out to a 2-0 lead at Bright, thanks to goals by Marie-Philip Poulin
and Jillian Kirchner. Liza Ryabkina '11 single-handedly got Harvard
back in the contest, capping the second period with a goal and
tallying another just 2:24 into the third to tie it at 2-2. A trio
of BU goals followed and proved to be too much for the Crimson,
even though Katharine Chute's '11 late marker brought Harvard to
within two at 5-3.
Last Time Out
The Crimson was dominant last weekend, surging into second place
in the ECAC standings on the strength of a pair of shutouts at Yale
and Brown.
Against the Bulldogs, the game was never in question, as goals
from Jillian Dempsey and Kaitlin
Spurling less than five minutes into the game gave
Harvard a quick 2-0 lead. Spurling would strike again before the
end of the period and came a pipe away from sealing a hat trick
against Yale. Gina
McDonald and Samantha
Reber tallied goals in the second period and Kalley
Armstrong, Hillary
Crowe and Elizabeth
Parker lit the lamp in the third for the 8-0 win. In
all, seven different Harvard players scored goals. Goalie Laura
Bellamy picked up her second straight shutout, stopping
nine shots.
The following afternoon, Spurling got the Crimson on the board
with her third goal of the weekend, and Sarah
Edney doubled the Crimson lead to 2-0 after one period.
Spurling's fourth of the weekend came off a redirect in front of
the Brown goalie and Bellamy was once again true in net, stopping
all 18 shots she faced to stretch her shutout streak to 11
periods.
Harvard At The Beanpot
The Crimson enters Tuesday night's contest in search of its 14th
Beanpot title, which would tie Harvard with Northeastern for the
all-time lead in tournament titles. Harvard's first round opponent,
Boston University, has claimed just one beanpot title, while the
highest-ranked team in this year's field, No. 4 Boston College, has
collected four and is the defending champion. Harvard is 14-1
all-time in the Beanpot against BU.
A February Tradition?
The Women's Beanpot is traditionally played on the Tuesdays
following the Men's Beanpot games, and takes place on the first two
Tuesdays of February. With this year's opening round being played
in January, it represents just the second time in tournament
history that games will be played during the first month of the
year. The last time the opening round was played in January was in
1997. Harvard faced BU in the opening round and trounced the
Terriers, 14-0.
Shut It Down
Harvard enters the game against BU riding a three-game shutout
streak, its longest since a similar stretch during the 2007-08
season. Four of Harvard's last five wins have come via shutout and
have all come during conference play. Since the New Year, Harvard
has allowed just 12 goals in nine games and compiled a 6-2-1
overall record.
Scoring Seven-Spot
In the 8-0 win over Yale Jan. 27, seven different Harvard players
scored goals. It marked the first time since the 2004-05 season
that seven different Harvard skaters scored in a game. The last
time it happened was also against Yale, an 11-2 Harvard win Jan.
29, 2005.
Beanpot Hall of Fame 2012
Nicole Corriero '05 will be inducted into the Beanpot Hall of Fame
this year, making her the fifth Harvard player to receive the
honor. With 14 points on eight goals and six assists in four career
Beanpots, Corriero ranks tied for 12th in all-time tournament
scoring and fifth among Harvard players. She led Harvard to four
consecutive Beanpot Championships from 2002-05, taking home
tournament Most Valuable Player honors as a senior and becoming the
seventh-consecutive Crimson player to earn the MVP nod. A two-time
All-American, Corriero finished her Harvard career as the
fourth-highest career point scorer in program history with 265
points on 150 goals and 115 assists. She also holds the program
records for goals in a season with 59, points in a game with 10 and
goals in a game with six. Corriero was named ECAC Hockey and Ivy
League Player of the Year in 2005, after taking home ECAC and Ivy
Rookie of the Year honors in 2002.
Big Time Bellamy
Junior goalie Laura Bellamy hasn't allowed a goal in 11 periods of
play, the longest stretch of her career. The last time a Harvard
goalie had a stretch of at least three-straight shutouts was
2007-08 when Christina Kessler '10 blanked Colgate (4-0), Boston
College (7-0) and St. Lawrence (2-0) in consecutive contests.
Bellamy now has 12 shutouts in her career, placing her fourth in
program history and one away from tying Erin Villiotte's '95 mark
of 13. Bellamy also ranks tied for fourth for shutouts in a season
with five, tying Emily Vitt '04 in 2003-04.
A New Year's Resolution
Since the start of 2012, the Harvard penalty kill has been much
improved. The Crimson has allowed just two power-play goals in nine
games since the New Year, and has killed 27 of 29 opponent power
plays. Harvard has killed its last 17 penalties, including seven
against Colgate two weekends ago.
Third Period Poise
While the second period had been Harvard's strongest in terms of
goals scored, the Crimson is steadily becoming a third period team
in terms of scoring. In its nine games since the New Year, Harvard
has scored multiple third-period goals in four of them, including
three each in wins over Colgate, Rensselaer and Yale. In those nine
games, Harvard has outscored opponents, 13-2, in the third period,
representing both its highest goal total and best goal
differential.
Jam-Packed January
This year, Harvard will play 10 games in the month of January,
making it the busiest January in the history of the program.
February is typically the busiest month for Harvard and the Crimson
played a program-high 11 games in February of 2008 and '09.
Shot Stoppers
After holding an opponent to fewer than 20 shots in a game just
three times this season heading into Jan. 13, the Crimson held both
the Dutchwomen and the Engineers below that threshold in the
weekend sweep. The following weekend, Harvard allowed a
then-season-low 14 shots to No. 3 Cornell in a 2-0 defeat. The
Crimson had its finest defensive performance of the season at Yale,
holding the Bulldogs to just nine shots on goal. On the season,
Harvard is outshooting its opponents, 635-476.
A Comeback of Notable Proportions
Harvard's 5-3 comeback victory over Rensselaer marked the first
time since Nov. 16, 2004 the Crimson has come back to win from a
three-goal deficit. The last time it happened, Brown scored three
times within the first 8:52 of the contest, but Harvard found three
of its own quickly after to close the first period in a 3-3 tie. In
fact, the Crimson scored seven straight times to close the game
with a 7-3 win in Providence. Harvard scored five unanswered goals
in its comeback win over RPI Saturday.
Parker Please
Elizabeth Parker has seven points on the season, six of which have
come on goals. The Crimson is 6-0-0 this season in games
where Parker scores. In fact, Harvard has never lost a game in
which Parker scores a goal, posting a 8-0-1 record in eight such
contests, dating back to her rookie season.
A Note About Ties
The 3-3 draw with Quinnipiac Jan. 7 was Harvard's first tie of the
season. Dating back to Jan. 2010, six of Harvard's last eight ties
have been by a 3-3 score. Three of Harvard's four ties last season
were 3-3 games, including a Beanpot first-round game against
Northeastern, where Harvard advanced thanks to a shootout
victory.
Feast On the East
Hockey East has become one of the strongest conferences in women's
college hockey, but the Crimson has been dominant in three games
against Hockey East opponents this season. Harvard downed
Providence on the road, 5-1, Dec. 8, and followed with a 5-2
pounding of New Hampshire at Bright the following night. The 8-1
thrashing of Connecticut pushed Harvard's record to 3-0 against
Hockey East schools this season. The Crimson is slated to face two
more Hockey East opponents in the
Beanpot.
Spreading The Wealth
Thanks to Alisa
Baumgartner's goal against Union in her first game back
from injury, every Harvard position player on the 2011-12 roster
has registered a point. Twelve different players have scored goals
this season, while all 16 skaters on the roster have logged at
least one assist. It marks the first time since the 2004-05 season
that every position player on the roster has registered a
point.
