Icewomen Stunned in Bright

A James Bond movie could not have ended any more appropriately than the Harvard women's hockey team's heart-stopper against St. Laurent yesterday.

Patriot forward Paulette Cormier poked a rebound past sophomore netminder Erin Villiotte with the clock reading 0:07--does anyone remember "Goldfinger"?--thwarting Harvard's upset bid and giving St. Laurent (6-2-1) a 3-2 win over the Crimson (2-4-0) in Bright Center.

A power-play goal by Harvard Co-Captain Joey Alissi 27 seconds earlier had tied the score and looked to give the Crimson at least a well-earned tie for an afternoon of hard play against a superior team.

But St. Laurent forced a faceoff in the Harvard end and Cormier snuck in behind an overextended Crimson defense for the winning tally.

"Sometimes when you're physically tired at the end of a game, you can mentally breakdown," Harvard Coach John Dooley said. "That's what happened back at our own end."

Dooley was clearly upset after the game.

"I'm so disappointed for the kids--we ask an awful lot of them out there, and to lose a game like this is really tough. I thought we played well enough at least to tie, if not win."

Fighting Spirit

That the Crimson was even hanging around at the end of the game with a chance to win it is a tribute to its fighting spirit and determination. Playing the day after a sloppy 2-1 win at Yale, fatigue played a major factor down the stretch.

But the Crimson still managed to generate quality scoring chances throughout the third period, capped by Alissi's power-play tip-in off a shot by freshman Holly Leitzes.

And on the whole, Harvard showed much more character than it had in its win the previous day in New Haven.

"I think every game we're getting a little bit better," Alissi said.

Senior Co-Captain Kim Landry agrees. "Our positional play was a lot better than it was [in Harvard's earlier 2-0 loss to St. Laurent] in Canada."

A tenacious defense (save for the one mental lapse at the end) was also a highlight for the Crimson. Leitzes and junior Francie Walton turned in sparkling performances, breaking up several Patriot breaks.

And sophomore defender Winkie Mleczko contributed the first goal of the game, a shot from the point through a screen that snuck past Patriot goalie Mylene Benoit at 5:01 of the first period.

Solid Between the Twines

Villiotte turned in another solid performance, and through two periods it seemed as though she might record her first shutout of the season.

But the Crimson couldn't hold the Patriots off forever. A deflection off of Marie-Claude Pelletier beat Villiotte 1:46 into the third to tie the score, and a Cormier breakaway goal sparked by a pretty feed from Nathalie Pelland gave St. Laurent its first lead of the game with 4:26 to play.

"It is a tough loss," Alissi said. "But we are still gearing for the Ivies, so this loss isn't so bad.

"This game was an excellent warm-up for [a Tuesday showdown against Ivy favorite] Brown," Alissi finished.

ST. LAURENT, 3-2 at Bright Hockey Center St. Laurent  0  0  3  --  3 Harvard  1  0  1  --  2

G: St. Laurent--Marie-Claude Pelletier, Paulette Cormier (2); Harvard--Winkie Mleczko, Joey Alissi. A: St. Laurent--Ginette Descheres (2), Nathalie Pelland, Nancy Robitaille; Harvard--Diana Clark, Ellen Framp, Holly Leitzes, Kim Landry.