Zevi Metal: W. Hockey Still Has Long Road

The No. 2 Harvard women's hockey team took its first step towards another conference championship on Saturday. But it was just a baby step.

The Crimson (21-4-3, 17-4-3 ECAC), the No. 2 seed in the ECAC Tournament, rolled past No. 7 seed St. Lawrence (18-15-1, 11-12-1) in Saturday's quarterfinal at Bright Hockey Center, 7-3. Harvard dominated the first period, outshooting the Saints, 16-5, which was more than enough for the victory.

"At the start of the game, our kids were excited, full of energy and well-prepared," said Harvard Coach Katey Stone. "You have to take advantage of that and put people on their heels."

Jumping out to a big lead provides many luxuries. Sophomore center Jen Botterill's second goal of the game put Harvard ahead 5-0 just 44 seconds into the second period. That forced the Saints to play with desperation and try to force turnovers and shots in transition.

The Crimson, meanwhile, could play at a normal pace on both ends of the ice. St. Lawrence did manage a few late goals, but Harvard's lead was never threatened.

"A quick start like that allows me to just relax and play and I don't have to worry about making any mistakes in the crease," said senior goaltender Crystal Springer, who made 29 saves in her final game at Bright. "It was definitely good to win, but hopefully there are four more wins left in our season."

To get the four wins separating Harvard from another national championship, however, the Crimson will need more than just a fast start.

Harvard has advanced to the ECAC semifinals next Saturday at Brown's Meehan Auditorium, where the competition will be much fiercer than it was in the first round. The three other teams still alive in the conference tournament--No. 1 seed Brown (22-3-3, 19-2-3), No. 3 seed Dartmouth (19-10-0, 17-7-0) and No. 5 seed Northeastern (22-8-3, 15-6-3)--have all either beaten or tied the Crimson this season.

St. Lawrence also beat Harvard this season in New York, 4-2. But that was back on Thanksgiving weekend, when Botterill and junior winger Tammy Shewchuk, the team's top two scorers, were in Montreal playing for the Canadian National Team in the Three Nations Cup.

The Saints got off to a hot start, with another upset over No. 5 New Hampshire, but they have not beaten a ranked team since Jan. 7. St. Lawrence, which is 5-10-1 in its last 16 Division I games, relies on freshmen and juniors for scoring and is still a notch below the ECAC elite.

Harvard, as usual, was expected to dominate this game, and that's what the Crimson did for the first 20 minutes. But St. Lawrence, trailing 5-0, played with a sense of urgency after that, outshooting Harvard 24-22 over the final two periods and scoring three goals in the process.

Teams, like St. Lawrence, that cannot compete with Harvard in a shootout must look to pack it in on defense, rely on forechecking to create turnovers in the neutral zone and convert on the ensuing odd-man rushes.

Saints winger Caroline Trudeau's unassisted goal in the third period, for example, came in transition right after scorching shots from both Botterill and Shewchuk had come up empty on the other end of the ice. But St. Lawrence simply lacked the offensive weapons to mount a legitimate comeback attempt once it fell behind by five goals.

The Crimson's next opponent, Dartmouth, is another story. Dartmouth is the only team that has beaten Harvard twice this season.

The Big Green plays a brand of defensive hockey that resembles St. Lawrence's style of play, only Dartmouth does it much better. For example, when the Big Green beat the Crimson in the home-opener, the game-winning goal in overtime came after a Dartmouth steal in the neutral zone led to a breakaway and an easy score.

The Crimson's countless offensive weapons are going to produce scoring opportunities. To win in the conference semifinals and championship game, however, Harvard will need to convert those opportunities and not allow its opponents to score in transition. Against Dartmouth, that means overcoming an aggressive forecheck in the defensive zone and controlling the tempo on offense.

Bottom line: one dominant period of hockey won't bring home a conference championship. A fast start is great, but the Crimson must sustain a high level of play for the entire game to defend its title.

The good news is that Harvard has been coming closer and closer to 60 minutes of dominant hockey in the last month. Since defeating Northeastern in overtime in the Beanpot championship game Feb. 15, the Crimson has won all six of its games, and only two of those victories were by less than three goals. Although it struggled to a 2-2-1 record in the first five games after intercession, Harvard appears to be peaking at the right time for a conference title.

"We have had our ups and downs this season, but that happened early on," said sophomore defenseman Angela Ruggiero, who turned the hat trick Saturday and is as hot as any blueliner in the country right now. "But we have momentum now and we are building confidence game by game. Our team knows what it feels like to win it all, and we want to have that feeling again."

Harvard has not felt the joy of beating Dartmouth since it smeared the Big Green, 7-1, in last year's conference semifinal.

If the Crimson takes advantage of its superior talent for all 60 minutes on Saturday, it should coast into the conference championships and secure an invitation to the AWCHA national championship tournament the following weekend.