Brown Isn't Kind: Icewomen Fall, 3-1, on Road

Graduation wasn't kind to the Harvard women's hockey team. The team now plays with seven freshman.

The season hasn't been kind. The team is 2-4, with its last win against lowly Yale on Sunday.

And last night, the night on which the Crimson hoped to make its big breakthrough, wasn't kind to the team, either.

Paced by assist-specialist Shannon Bryant (two assists, one short-handed), Brown took an early two-goal lead in Providence and never looked back, handing the Crimson its fifth loss with a 3-1 victory.

Before the game, Coach John Dooley said last night's contest was the focal point of Harvard's season. The contests prior were simply "learning experiences."

Brown is the strongest team in the Ivy League and one of the toughest on the East coast. (With its November 28 5-2 win, the Bears were the first Ivy team in 20 years to knock off powerful New Hampshire.)

But Brown had home ice, a complete line-up (three potent lines of forwards) and a roster stacked with talent (read: lots of Canadians) in its favor.

After the game, Dooley said Harvard's inexperience cost the team the game, but cautioned not to read too much into a loss, especially against a team as strong as Brown.

"We played dynamite. We were in the game all the way," Dooley said. "During a rebuilding year, when you can go out and play [Brown] head on, you've got to be very proud of the team and how they played. Goals against are the result of mistakes. And when you're a young team you make mistakes."

Those mistakes came after a strong first period in which Harvard kept most of the pressure in the Brown offensive zone.

In the second, Brown forward Molly Driscoll scored at 9:54 off an assist from Bryant. Just over eight minutes later, Harvard got into a serious bind, getting called for highsticking and tripping. Down 5-3, Harvard contained Brown for most of the powerplay, but the Bears' scrappiness in front of the net paid off.

Andrea Boudreau slipped a shot past Harvard sophomore goalie Erin Villiote (33 saves) to bring the lead to two. Brown's Stacey Nokonechny and Joy Woog assisted on the score.

Heading into the final period, Dooley made the team's strategy very clear. "I told them not to panic, just to keep playing and getting the shots, and, hopefully, the puck would bounce our way," Dooley said.

At first, the coach's words worked. Peppering Brown goalie Kate Presbery (26 saves) with shots, Harvard Co-Captain Kim Landry dumped in a rebound at 1:28 in the third.

Harvard's pressure, however, also proved the team's undoing. Down 2-1 and with the power play at 10:00, Harvard attacked the Brown zone. But the Bears stole the puck, Nicole Haakenson advanced the puck up to forward Kathy Hopkins and Hopkins beat Villiote on the breakaway.

"We put all kinds of pressure on them. We were working the puck beautifully. But our inexperience caused us to pressure ourselves and we made a mistake," Dooley said.

Harvard had its chances in the final moments to cut the lead to one, especially after pulling Villiote in the final moments, but, as with the rest of the game, the team had trouble finishing.

Dooley, however, thinks the team is on the road to success--albeit a rugged and rocky road. "Our problem with many kids is inexperience," he said. "We don't have ability to finish. We get the opportunity but don't put it away. Every game we play, the players are getting better and better. We are going to surprise one of these teams. It could even be Brown later in the season."

Stay tuned.

BROWN, 3-1 at Providence, R.I. Harvard  0  0  1  --  1 Brown  0  2  1  --  3

G: Brown--Molly Driscoll, Andrea Boudeau, Kathy Hopkins; Harvard--Kim Landry. A: Brown--Shannon Bryant (2), Stacy Nokonechny, Joy Woog, Nicole Hackenson; Harvard--Stacy Kellogg. S: Brown--Kate Presbery 26; Harvard--Erin Villiote 33.