Women's Hockey Falls to Minnesota, 3-2

A day late and a goal short, the Harvard Women's Hockey fell to Minnesota, 3-2, at Bright Hockey Center yesterday.

With a replacement zamboni successfully secured from a nearby Massachusetts District Commission ice rink, Bright Arena was back in business as the Crimson hosted the Golden Gophers in the makeup to Sunday afternoon's postponed game.

The Crimson dressed only 14 players, while Minnesota fielded 20, and the extra bodies gave the Gophers the advantage in the game's decisive third period.

The back and forth affair featured a strong effort by the Crimson and a good deal of physical play.

"This team played great, I'm so proud of their effort," said Harvard Coach Katey Stone.

The Crimson tallied the game's first goal at 11:13 of the first period when captain Angie Francisco shot the puck past Minnesota goalie Erica Killewald. Leftwing Tara Dunn and rightwing Kiirsten Suurkask assisted Francisco on the tally. The goal came on a Crimson power play after Minnesota's Bethany Petersen was called for intereferece at 9:55.

"Dunn dropped the puck to me, and I cut across in front of the net," Francisco said. "I just tried to flick it in, Dunn and Suurkask crashed the net, and I don't think Killewald even saw it."

The Crimson held onto the 1-0 lead through the rest of the period. Harvard outshot Minnesota 11-10 in the first frame and took advantage of two Minnesota penalties, one leading directly to Francisco's goal.

But Harvard's lead would not last much longer than the first intermission. The Gophers marked the scoreboard only 1:01 into the second period.

Minnesota's Nadine Muzerall, the nation's leading scorer last year with 49 goals and 28 assists, scored on a powerplay goal after Harvard's Pam Van Reesema was called for interference at :48.

Harvard struggled to regain the momentum after Muzerall's goal, but the score remained locked for much of the period.

The Gophers took the lead with three minutes left in the frame. Tracy Palinsky beat junior netminder Alison Kuusisto at 17:01, assisted by Kelsey Bills and Kris Scholz.

After a slow period, the Crimson responded to Minnesota's go-ahead goal, treating it as a rallying point. The remainder of the period saw a renewed Harvard energy and attack.

Two Minnesota interference penalties in the closing minutes gave the Crimson a two-man advantage to end the period, but Harvard failed to convert.

The tying goal came five minutes into the final frame. Right wing Vanessa Bazzochi took a pass from center Lauren McAuliffe while crossing in front of the net and shot a back hand past Killewald.

That goal would not stand long, however, as the Gophers pulled ahead for good at 6:49 when Minnesota center Ronda Curtin beat Kuusisto.

The Gophers tried to help Harvard back into the game at 17:32 when Muzerall slashed Harvard's Suurkask across the face, drawing a five-minute major.

The Crimson applied pressure on the power play, but fell short after a Suurkask shot from the blue line with six seconds left went wide.

In the third period, Minnesota's extra legs off the bench gave the team an advantage over Harvard. The edge was most apparent shots on goal: The Gophers outshot the Crimson 12-6 in the final stanza.

Minnesota outshot Harvard 41-35 for the game.

Despite the loss, both Francisco and Stone were able to take away positives from yesterday's game.

"If we forth this kind of effort all year long, we'll just keep getting better and better," Francisco said.

"It's very encouraging to play this well so early in the season," Stone said.

The Crimson, winless in their first two games, look to rebound this weekend with a pair of games at Niagara.