Bruins Shut Out Women Skaters, 8-0, Dominate Contest at Both Ends of Ice

The Harvard women's hockey team traveled to Providence Saturday night with hopes of its first Ivy League win this season, and of giving coach Rita Harder her first victory over her former coach and alma mater, Steve Shea of Brown.

But the Bruins, powered by an awesome first line which accounted for all their goals, dumped the Crimson 8-0. The loss drops Harvard's record to 1-3, while Harder remains winless against Brown in three attempts.

Trick Mirror

As with the icewomen's other losses, the score did not accurately reflect the game. The Crimson played even with the Bruins at times in the contest, particularly in the third period. But the skaters must iron out their early season bugs, the type of mental errors on which teams like Brown capitalize and create some scoring punch.

"We need some work, but I've seen a lot of improvement so far. Our major problem is that we're not cashing in on our opportunities," Harder said after the game. "Brown had a couple of strong players who crashed our zone forcing defensive mistakes."

Strong is quite an understatement. The Bruin first line of freshmen Jennifer Voichick centering for junior wings, Amy Crafts and Pam Boone, had it all: superb skating, skills and passing. When the trio was on the ice, the action was in the Harvard end.

Crafts wasted no time putting Brown on the scoreboard. A first team All-Ivy selection for the past two years, she picked up the first of three goals just 47 seconds into the contest, taking a feed from Voichick and slipping the puck by Crimson netminder, Laura Zuckerman.

Second Strike

On its next shift, the line struck again. This time, Voichick tallied at 3:52, assisted by Boone, a two-time All-Ivy second team member.

In the fourteen seconds before the first period buzzer, the Bruins added two more goals for a commanding 4-0 lead. Crafts connected after a well executed three-on-two rush with Voichick and Tina Nawrocki. Voichick notched her second of the night with a second remaining from Crafts and Karin Morse.

Harvard was frustrated in the second period playing short-handed for about half of the stanza because of five costly penalties. The Bruins tallied twice in the stanza, with Crafts (15:27) and Voichick (9:51) completing their hat tricks and the Bruins outshooting the icewomen, 10-3, in the period.

THE NOTEBOOK: The Crimson ventures to Chestnut Hill to face off against Boston College, tomorrow night at 7:15.