Mercyhurst Defense Can't Hold W. Hockey

Although Mercyhurst brought the nation’s second-best defense and a 10-game win streak into its first ever matchup with the Harvard women’s hockey team, by game’s end the Lady Lakers were just another Crimson victim.

No. 1 Harvard extended its nation-best win streak to 14 games with a 5-2 victory over No. 9 Mercyhurst yesterday and a 6-0 win over unranked Niagara on Friday.

Harvard 5, Mercyhurst 2

Behind the scoring of the Olympic trio—captain Jennifer Botterill, junior captain Angela Ruggiero and freshman winger Julie Chu—Harvard (17-1-0) took an early lead and deflated any chance of a Mercyhurst rally en route to a 5-2 victory.

With the Crimson leading 3-0 on the strength of two goals from Chu and another from Botterill, a goal by Lindsay Dellow at 13:28 of the second period finally put the Lady Lakers (20-6-1) onto the scoreboard.

Harvard struck back 42 seconds later when Botterill notched her second goal of the period off assists from linemates Chu and sophomore Lauren McAuliffe. The goal restored the three-goal lead and sealed Mercyhurst’s fate.

It was the second time in three games that the Crimson had answered an opponent’s first goal with one of its own less than a minute later. It took Harvard nine seconds against Boston College on Tuesday.

Botterill and Chu helped to stretch the lead out of the Lady Lakers’ reach when they tallied helpers on sophomore defender Ashley Banfield’s power play goal early in the third period.

Mercyhurst’s Randy Pilger scored the final goal at 15:41 on a five-on-three power play, one of three such two-man advantages in a physical game that saw 22 penalties called.

From the first drop of the puck, the game was extremely physical. The intensity increased as the game progressed and reached a head in the final frame of action, when the Crimson found itself on the receiving end of hits after stoppages of play.

“Sometimes when we have a lot of steam behind us, teams try to blow us down by playing physical,” Botterill said.

The physical play could not stifle the Harvard offense. The Olympic trio tallied nine total points on four goals and five assists. Chu first found the back of the net barely two minutes into the contest. After faking to the outside, Chu slipped the puck between the legs of the defender, retrieved it and beat the Lady Lakers’ goaltender, Tiffany Ribble.

Chu scored the second Crimson goal on the power play when she pounced on the rebound of a rocket fired by Ruggiero from the point at 9:53 of the first period.

“It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time,” Chu said. “Angie’s shot missed just right, and when the puck came back in front of the right post, I knocked it in.”

Botterill opened up the second period with the eventual game-winning goal. Senior defender Pamela Van Reesema and Ruggiero assisted on the play.

Backing up the Harvard attack was junior goaltender Jessica Ruddock, who made 26 saves on 28 shots.

Though most of the Crimson’s wins have been blowouts, the team felt a lack of focus, rather than a lack of conditioning, accounted for the smaller margin of victory.

“I don’t think it was because of fatigue,” Botterill commented. “Being on the penalty kill often makes you hungrier. This was a good lesson for us though. It shows that we need to focus on playing a consistent 60 minutes of hockey.”

Harvard will look to do just that in an important stretch of games this week. The Crimson begins its quest for a fifth straight Beanpot title against Boston University at Bright tomorrow and then hosts its biggest rival No. 4 Dartmouth on Friday.

Harvard 6, Niagara 0

The top-three point-getters for the Crimson—Botterill, Ruggiero, and Chu—turned in stellar three-point performances in Harvard’s shutout victory over Niagara (12-11-3) Friday night at Dwyer Arena.

The trio accounted for scoring the first three goals of the night. Ruggiero struck first for the Crimson at 9:35 in the first period. Botterill and Chu assisted on the play.

“I think the way the three of us played is representative of the rest of the team,” Chu said. “It’s a collective effort, and we only look good when the others are doing their jobs.”

Goals from both Chu and Botterill late in the first period brought the score to 3-0 and Harvard never looked back. Botterill finished with two goals on the night.

A combined effort from goaltenders Ruddock and freshman Ali Boe, who made 11 and 5 saves, respectively, produced the Crimson’s eighth shutout of the year. Jennifer Mascaro made 26 saves for the Purple Eagles in the loss.