W. Hockey 3-0 in Weekend Tourney

Whoever said inexperience hurts did not take the Harvard women's hockey team into account.

The Crimson kicked off its season this weekend with three games at the All-American Collegiate Classic in Minnesota. Behind some outstanding play by its newest members, Harvard (3-0-0) came away undefeated with three impressive victories over Minnesota, Augsburg, and Gustavus Adolphus.

"This weekend built confidence in our team," freshman forward Kiirsten Suurkask said. "We know we can compete in this league."

The story of the weekend was youth and fresh faces. Offensively, the Crimson was led by Suurkask and fellow freshman Angie Francisco who combined for 19 points in the three games. At the defensive end, sophomore goalie Crystal Springer, a transfer from Middlebury, stopped 48 of 51 shots.

After last season's shortage of players resulted in a 10-18 record, Harvard Coach Katey Stone brought in six freshmen and two transfers to make the Crimson more competitive. It seems that the investment has paid dividends rather quickly.

"I'm pretty happy with the way we played, but everyone contributed," Francisco said.

In its first game on Thursday night Harvard faced traditional power Minnesota. Despite a roster with many young players, the Golden Gophers netted two early goals, and it appeared that Harvard would pick up right were it left off last year.

Enter Angie Francisco. With just over one and a half minutes left in the first period, the freshman forward put the biscuit in the basket for Harvard's first tally. The Crimson left the ice at the first intermission trailing by only one goal and riding a wave of much-needed confidence.

"[Angie's] goal was huge," Springer said. "It swung the momentum to our side."

The score remained 2-1 until midway through the third period when co-captain Kyle Walsh scored an unassisted goal to knot the game at 2-2. Walsh had set the stage for a dramatic conclusion, and the Crimson did not disappoint.

With just over five minutes to play, Suurkask took the puck and netted the eventual game-winner. The assists on the play went to, who else, two freshmen--Francisco and defenseman Jamie Notman. But Harvard could not celebrate yet.

Two minutes after Suurkask's score, sophomore defenseman Christie MacKinnon was hit with a two-minute minor penalty for cross-checking. Leading 3-2, the Crimson found itself in a shorthanded situation and fought furiously to kill the penalty.

The Gophers then complicated matters further by pulling their goalie and replacing her with another forward. Harvard was in a six-on-four situation for the next 30 seconds, and six-on-five for the final minute of the game.

The penalty killing unit, however, held firm for the Crimson. Time expired as junior Claudia Asano skated in circles behind her own net to avoid the Minnesota attack.

"The team showed a lot of character [in the Minnesota game]," Springer said. "The defense stepped it up in front of me big time."

The next two games were not nearly as dramatic, but they were certainly convincing. Playing against much weaker competition in Augsburg and Gustavus Adolphus, Harvard did what good teams do against inferior opposition--crush it.

The Crimson outshot both opponents by a combined, eye-popping margin of 104 to 26 en route to 9-1 and 10-1 thrashings. Suurkask and Francisco each had a hat trick against Augsburg on Saturday afternoon, while freshman forward Tara Dunn and junior forward Kate Schutt each scored twice on Sunday against Gustavus Adolphus.

"It just happened that we put the puck away this weekend," Francisco said. "Next weekend it might very well be someone else scoring the goals."

"It was a good start," Suurkask added, "but there is still a lot of room for improvement."

Despite their own modesty, the freshmen's statistical totals for the weekend were nothing short of impressive. Suurkask had seven goals and three assists, Francisco recorded four goals and five assists and Dunn contributed two goals and five assists.

The upperclassmen turned in fine performances as well. MacKinnon and Asano played excellent defense, and recorded three and five assists, respectively.

Springer went the distance in net against Minnesota, turning back 30 of the 32 shots she faced. She was removed in the third period of each of the other two contests but still managed to record 18 additional saves on 19 shots.

"Crystal was awesome in the net," Francisco said.

Harvard will carry a good deal of confidence and an undefeated record into the start of the Ivy League and ECAC seasons this weekend. The Crimson travels to Princeton on Saturday and Yale on Sunday and returns to Bright Hockey Center the following week to battle Dartmouth and Boston College.