Moment of Truth Versus Duluth: W. Hockey tops No. 1 UMD, but Falls to No. 2 Gophers

It was a weekend of fire and ice for the Harvard women’s hockey team in Minnesota as the Crimson cooled the fire of No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth in a 2-1 win but was iced the next day by No. 2 Minnesota, 4-3.

The No. 3 Crimson (3-1) won a physical battle versus Duluth on Saturday, as Harvard junior goalie Jessica Ruddock stopped 28 of 29 shots and freshman winger Julie Chu scored the game-winner with 28 seconds to play.

Against Minnesota yesterday, Harvard maintained a 35-16 shot advantage, but the Gophers found opportunities amid the onslaught to eke out a 4-3 win.

The weekend split will likely elevate the Crimson to No. 2 in the national rankings.

“I don’t care about the rankings,” said junior defenseman Angela Ruggiero, one of four Crimson captains. “There’s less pressure on us if we’re not No. 1. At No. 2 or No. 3, we still have something to work for.”

Harvard faced the top two teams in the nation without last season’s national assist leader, senior center Kalen Ingram. Ingram, another captain, broke her thumb slamming into the boards last week at Dartmouth and will be out five to six weeks.

Minnesota 4, Harvard 3

It took nearly 20 minutes for Harvard to dig itself out of a 3-2 hole the Gophers had dug for them. It took only another minute for Minnesota to send the Crimson back into the depths of defeat.

By the time Ruggiero scored to tie the game 3-3 on a feed from Chu, every Olympian on the ice had contributed to scoring, except for Minnesota freshman Natalie Darwitz.

But sure enough, just a minute after Ruggiero tied the game, Darwitz dug a new hole the Crimson could not escape by capitalizing on Harvard’s failure to clear the defensive zone.

This wasn’t the first mistake Harvard made. Just three minutes into the game, the Golden Gophers found the hole in the vaunted Crimson powerplay, tops in the nation last season and responsible for both goals against Duluth. Minnesota’s Kelly Stephens opened the scoring with a short-handed goal on a 2-on-1 with U.S. Olympian Krissy Wendell.

But other than a few miscues, Harvard’s performance was dominant.

At the 14:52 mark, Canadian Olympian and gold medalist, Crimson captain Jennifer Botterill, tied the game with her sixth goal of the season. Then with barely a minute to play in the period, senior Tracy Catlin put the Crimson ahead.

The Crimson outshot the Golden Gophers 13-3 in the first frame but left the ice leading only 2-1.

Minnesota erased its narrow deficit just two minutes into the second period as Wendell tied the game. The Gophers went ahead when defender Allie Sanchez beat Ruddock at the 15:39 mark for a 3-2 lead.

Harvard went into the second intermission down a goal despite outshooting Minnesota 25-8. The Crimson could not solve netminder Jody Horak.

“It was very frustrating,” Ruggiero said. “A lot of pucks were just sitting there, but we couldn’t put them in.”

Ruddock, a star against Duluth, was often left helpless against a skilled Minnesota squad. Wendell and Darwitz both gave Ruddock trouble with their ability to score on quick passing plays.

“Whereas Duluth is a power team, [Minnesota] is a more cohesive unit,” Ruddock said. “They run tricky plays in front. They have a persistent passing game.”

While the Duluth offense was more consistent, Minnesota’s attack was more opportunistic, capitalizing on Crimson mistakes.

“I like to always be active,” Ruddock said. “The Minnesota game wasn’t quite as intense, but I still felt pretty good.”

Though the loss made for a somewhat disappointing flight back to Logan, the Harvard players remained hopeful for the opportunity for revenge.

“It would be great to stay here and play them again,” Hagerman said. “But it’ll be better to beat them in March, when it will hurt the most.”

Harvard 2, Duluth 1

Following up a two-minute penalty for delay of game, Chu needed just five seconds off a faceoff to bring the game to a swift conclusion.

With the teams lined up in the Duluth zone, Botterill won the faceoff to Chu, who skated in and scored on a terrific individual effort.

Prior to facing the Crimson, Duluth’s penalty killing unit was a perfect 69 for 69. But Botterill’s first period goal drew first blood on the Duluth penalty kill and Chu’s powerplay game-winner added salt to the wound.

“They thought they could handle us easily,” Hagerman said. “They weren’t ready for us.”

Botterill’s goal stood through the first two periods as Ruddock safeguarded the lead. She was cool as ice in shutting down a three-on-one and then denying US Olympian Jenny Potter on a breakaway.

“I had trouble thinking, there was so much action,” Ruddock said. “Our defensemen were awesome, clearing everything. I saw every shot.”

Duluth would finally crack Ruddock less than a minute into the third period on a goal from Maria Rooth, a perennial Crimson killer. But that was all the Bulldogs could manage.

Though the powerplay got the goals, Ruddock’s performance was the difference.

“She came up huge in key situations,” Ruggiero said. “She earned us our W.”

—Staff writer David A. Weinfeld can be reached at weinfeld@fas.harvard.edu.

Minnesota 4, W. HOCKEY 3

at Ridder Arena

Harvard (3-1-0) 2 0 1 — 3

Minnesota (11-0-1) 1 2 1 — 4

First Period: M, Stephens (Wendell) 2:58. H Botterill (Corriero, Catlin) 14:52. H Catlin (Ruggiero, Botterill) 18:49 (pp). Second Period: M, Wendell (Oonincx) 2:04. M, Sanchez (Brodt, Sutton) 15:36.

Third Period: H, Ruggiero (Chu, Sweet) 14:37. M, Darwtiz (Sanchez) 15:40. Shots: H 13-12-10-35, M 3-5-8-16. Powerplay: H 1-7, M 0-5. Penalties: H 5-10, M 7-14. Goalies: H, Ruddock (16-12) M, Horak (35-32). A: 1716.

W. HOCKEY 2, Minnesota-Duluth 1

at Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center

Harvard (3-1-0) 1 0 1 — 2

UMD (9-1-2) 0 0 1 — 1

First Period: H, Botterill (Ruggiero, Chu) 12:35 (pp). Second Period: No scoring. Third period: D, Rooth (Holst, Potter) 0:49. H, Chu (Botterill) 19:32 (pp).

Shots: H 12-10-4-26, D 7-11-11-29. Powerplay: H 2-7, D 0-4. Penalties: H 5-10, D 8-16. Goalies: H, Ruddock 29-28, D, Sautter 26-24. A: 723.