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W. Hockey Splits Pair in Rhode Island

By David S. Griffel

Some people flew to Florida for the holiday weekend. Others went to Hawaii.

And with most vacations you seem to feel great when you leave but not so hot when you come back.

So went this past weekend for the Harvard women's hockey team, except that its sojourn took it not to Florida or Hawaii, but rather to good old Providence, R.I.

Harvard (12-9-2, 8-4-2 ECAC) bumped off a strong Providence squad Saturday afternoon, 6-5, but it came out tired against Brown the next day and lost by a 5-1 count.

"We came out on fire against Providence," co-captain Winkie Mleczko said. "But we were a lot flatter and tired [Sunday]."

For the second consecutive week, the Crimson earned a point against a squad it had never beaten. Harvard tied New Hampshire last week, 2-2, its first point in 15 lifetime games against UNH.

That paled in comparison to the Providence win.

The Friars held a 16-0-1 series record over the Crimson before Saturday's match at Schneider Arena commenced. But the Crimson came out strong, scored early, built a two-goal lead midway through the game and hung on for the 6-5 victory.

"They always take us lightly," said junior Holly Leitzes, who scored two goals in the game. "We were a little intimidated, but we scored first and threw them off."

Harvard gave Providence good reason to worry pretty much from the opening face-off.

The Crimson controlled play and struck just 56 seconds into the match. Sophomore A.J. Mleczko spun around the Friar net and dumped the puck in front of the goal to junior Stacy Kellogg, who fired it into the mesh.

The Friars retaliated later in the first period and took a 2-1 lead early in the second, but that's when the floodgates opened.

A.J. Mleczko and Leitzes were unstoppable; each scored two goals in the middle period. Mleczko and Leitzes's were the only four Harvard shots in the second, but they all lit the lamp, courtesy of some Providence defensive lapses and crisp Harvard passing and skating.

The Friars cut the lead to 5-4 early in the third period, but A.J. Mleczko completed her fifth hat trick of the season, with a high-rising shot with 2:21 left to seemingly seal the win.

But the victory didn't come easily.

Providence pulled its goalie for an extra attacker and trimmed the deficit to 6-5 with 55 seconds left. The Friars sent several shots towards the Harvard goal, but they could not beat Erin Villiotte (39 saves) for the equalizer.

After Villiotte foiled a pair of good scoring chances, the Crimson cleared the biscuit out of its defensive zone with 25 seconds left and never allowed the Friars a good scoring chance.

"The end of the game was hectic," Leitzes said. "It was a great win-everyone played great."

The same could not be said of Sunday's game against Brown. Maybe it was the presence of the television cameras in Meehan Auditorium. (The game was shown on Sportschannel yesterday morning).

"I wish we could have blamed it on the television, but we can't, Leitzes said.

More likely, Harvard's problem was that the Providence game had drained the players.

Already tired from the previous game and still suffering from not having enough players to field a complete line-up, Harvard didn't have the legs to keep up with Brown. The Bears were able to control the puck for long periods of time in the Harvard end and make line changes, while the Crimson fatigued very quickly.

The worst thing that can happen to a tired team is for it to play from behind, and that's exactly what the Crimson did. Disaster struck early, as Brown scored twice in a 47-second span in the first 5:24 of the game. The Bears would never look back.

"We had a good warm-up, but they caught us with two quick goals," Winkie Mleczko said. "Brown has a lot of depth. They always seemed to have fresh legs."

Brown kept the pressure coming all game and built a commanding 5-0 lead before A.J. Mleczko broke the shutout with 41 seconds left.

Mleczko's tally was the only bright spot for the Crimson. Her goal-number 32 on the year-broke her own Harvard single-season record.

Next up for Harvard is a game tomorrow night up at Dartmouth. The Big Green defeated the Crimson, 2-0, earlier this season.

"We can win it if we go out like we did against Providence," Lcitzes said.

"We've got nothing to lose." Harvard 6 Providence 5

Harvard 1 Brown 5

HARVARD, 6-5 (SATURDAY) at Schnelder Arena Harvard 1 4 1 - 6 Providence 1 2 2 - 5

First Period Har-Kellogg (A. Mleczko, Leitzes) :56. Pro-Wheeler (Mills, O'Sullivan) 6:15.

Second Period Pro-O'Sullivan (Killion, McCabe) 4:39. Har-Leitzes (Kellogg, Malek) 6:23. Har-Leitzes (Kellogg, A. Mieczko) 10:00. Har-A. Mleczko (Leitzes, Clark) 12:34. Har-A. Mleczko 15:10. Pro-O'Sullivan (Wagner, McCabe) 17:30

Third Period Pro-Blahoshi (Wagner) 3:52. Har-A. Mleczko (Kellogg, W. Mleczko) 15:29. Pro-Wheeler (Carlson, Blahoshi) 17:05.

Saves: Har-Villiotte 14-13-12 39; Pro-Pine 3-0-0/ 3, Smith 0/-0/-8 8..

Power Play: Har-1-2; Pro-0-1. BROWN, 5-1 (SUNDAY) at Meehan Auditorium Harvard 0 0 1 - 1 Brown 2 1 2 - 5

First Period Bro-McKenna (Gorton) 4:47. Bro-Driscoll (Kellar, King) 5:34.

Second Period Bro-Keller (Spruell) 9:37. (PPG)

Third Period Bro-Kellar (King) 1:06. Bro-King (Driscoll, Kellar) 4:13. Har-A. Mleczko (Calaglone) 17:19.

Saves: Har-Villiotte 8-11-5 24; Bro-Witcher 5-8-6 19..

Power Play: Har-0-2; Pro-1-2.

Attendance: 251.

Harvard 1 Brown 5

HARVARD, 6-5 (SATURDAY) at Schnelder Arena Harvard 1 4 1 - 6 Providence 1 2 2 - 5

First Period Har-Kellogg (A. Mleczko, Leitzes) :56. Pro-Wheeler (Mills, O'Sullivan) 6:15.

Third Period Pro-Blahoshi (Wagner) 3:52. Har-A. Mleczko (Kellogg, W. Mleczko) 15:29. Pro-Wheeler (Carlson, Blahoshi) 17:05.

Saves: Har-Villiotte 14-13-12 39; Pro-Pine 3-0-0/ 3, Smith 0/-0/-8 8..

Power Play: Har-1-2; Pro-0-1. BROWN, 5-1 (SUNDAY) at Meehan Auditorium Harvard 0 0 1 - 1 Brown 2 1 2 - 5

First Period Bro-McKenna (Gorton) 4:47. Bro-Driscoll (Kellar, King) 5:34.

Second Period Bro-Keller (Spruell) 9:37. (PPG)

Third Period Bro-Kellar (King) 1:06. Bro-King (Driscoll, Kellar) 4:13. Har-A. Mleczko (Calaglone) 17:19.

Saves: Har-Villiotte 8-11-5 24; Bro-Witcher 5-8-6 19..

Power Play: Har-0-2; Pro-1-2.

Attendance: 251.

HARVARD, 6-5 (SATURDAY) at Schnelder Arena Harvard 1 4 1 - 6 Providence 1 2 2 - 5

First Period Har-Kellogg (A. Mleczko, Leitzes) :56. Pro-Wheeler (Mills, O'Sullivan) 6:15.

Third Period Pro-Blahoshi (Wagner) 3:52. Har-A. Mleczko (Kellogg, W. Mleczko) 15:29. Pro-Wheeler (Carlson, Blahoshi) 17:05.

Saves: Har-Villiotte 14-13-12 39; Pro-Pine 3-0-0/ 3, Smith 0/-0/-8 8..

Power Play: Har-1-2; Pro-0-1. BROWN, 5-1 (SUNDAY) at Meehan Auditorium Harvard 0 0 1 - 1 Brown 2 1 2 - 5

First Period Bro-McKenna (Gorton) 4:47. Bro-Driscoll (Kellar, King) 5:34.

Second Period Bro-Keller (Spruell) 9:37. (PPG)

Third Period Bro-Kellar (King) 1:06. Bro-King (Driscoll, Kellar) 4:13. Har-A. Mleczko (Calaglone) 17:19.

Saves: Har-Villiotte 8-11-5 24; Bro-Witcher 5-8-6 19..

Power Play: Har-0-2; Pro-1-2.

Attendance: 251.

First Period Har-Kellogg (A. Mleczko, Leitzes) :56. Pro-Wheeler (Mills, O'Sullivan) 6:15.

Third Period Pro-Blahoshi (Wagner) 3:52. Har-A. Mleczko (Kellogg, W. Mleczko) 15:29. Pro-Wheeler (Carlson, Blahoshi) 17:05.

Saves: Har-Villiotte 14-13-12 39; Pro-Pine 3-0-0/ 3, Smith 0/-0/-8 8..

Power Play: Har-1-2; Pro-0-1. BROWN, 5-1 (SUNDAY) at Meehan Auditorium Harvard 0 0 1 - 1 Brown 2 1 2 - 5

First Period Bro-McKenna (Gorton) 4:47. Bro-Driscoll (Kellar, King) 5:34.

Second Period Bro-Keller (Spruell) 9:37. (PPG)

Third Period Bro-Kellar (King) 1:06. Bro-King (Driscoll, Kellar) 4:13. Har-A. Mleczko (Calaglone) 17:19.

Saves: Har-Villiotte 8-11-5 24; Bro-Witcher 5-8-6 19..

Power Play: Har-0-2; Pro-1-2.

Attendance: 251.

First Period Bro-McKenna (Gorton) 4:47. Bro-Driscoll (Kellar, King) 5:34.

Second Period Bro-Keller (Spruell) 9:37. (PPG)

Third Period Bro-Kellar (King) 1:06. Bro-King (Driscoll, Kellar) 4:13. Har-A. Mleczko (Calaglone) 17:19.

Saves: Har-Villiotte 8-11-5 24; Bro-Witcher 5-8-6 19..

Power Play: Har-0-2; Pro-1-2.

Attendance: 251.

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