Brown Next Up for W. Hockey

The Harvard women’s hockey team has maintained a high standard with its nation-best 28-1-1 record and 25-game unbeaten streak, but the most challenging and important tasks are yet to come. Next up is this weekend’s ECAC championship, the final test before the NCAA championships.

The No. 1 Crimson draws No. 5 seed Brown (14-13-4) at the Bears’ Meehan Auditorium at noon tomorrow. With a victory, Harvard would face the winner between No. 2 seed Dartmouth (24-7-0) and No. 3 seed Princeton (20-8-2) at noon on Sunday in a live-televised showdown on NESN.

Unlike recent years, the ECAC tournament is not going to have a significant impact on Harvard’s NCAA Frozen Four chances. The Crimson effectively wrapped up one of four NCAA berths long ago. But apart from the NCAA brackets that will be announced Sunday at 7 p.m., the tournament is still important for Harvard in terms of pride and momentum through the end of season.

“You’re only as good as your last game,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “We got to make sure our effort is consistent all the way through.”

From 1984-1997, the ECAC championship was the most prized championship in women’s college hockey. The first national tournament in 1998 drained the ECACs of some importance, but they are still Harvard’s conference championship, which it has only won in 1999. Dartmouth has eliminated the Crimson in each of the three years since.

That Harvard is playing the tournament host in the semifinal gives the weekend some additional luster. The Bears should have a large audience at their home ice, as recent tournaments have drawn over 2,000 fans.

“Even though we’re going there and we’ll have a bigger crowd cheering against us, it actually helps our team as well as Brown,” said captain Angela Ruggiero. “Everyone loves to play in front of any kind of crowd. People on our team get particularly motivated when the crowd cheers against them.”

The semifinal game is a welcome chance for the Crimson to have its best game against the Bears all season. Brown is the one ECAC team that has yet to suffer a three-goal or greater loss to Harvard. Both Crimson victories came by a single goal during the regular season.

“We won two very gritty games against them and it was certainly a good experience for us to have games like that,” said captain Kalen Ingram. “I think they still haven’t seen the best of our team. We can’t let the way they play dictate the way we play.”

Brown team members feel there is some level of controversy surrounding a Crimson goal in each game. The Bears questioned whether freshman Julie Chu kicked the puck into the net for the second goal in Harvard’s 3-2 victory in December. In February, the puck was underneath a Brown defender as it went into the net for the Crimson’s 4-3 win, and none of Harvard’s players could explain exactly how the goal was scored.

“We definitely think we have something to prove,” Ruggiero said. “We know mentally they think they can hang with us and that is exactly what we want to disprove.”

The Bears intend to make tomorrow’s game a challenge. They are the defending ECAC champions, and they have won two of the last three ECAC titles and played in two of the last three national championships. Though their young roster this season has been inconsistent against all opponents other than Harvard, Brown coach Digit Murphy feels her team is finally getting acclimated to her system.

“Our system is a real tough system,” Murphy said. “You’ve got to do a lot of thinking in the defensive zone. Our young players struggle with that kind of thought process right off the bat. I know as a coach intuitively we’re starting to understand it a little better and get more comfortable in it.”

Brown showed considerable improvement in its second meeting with Harvard. The Bears were able to break the puck out the Crimson zone with consistency and managed 31 shots—the most Harvard has allowed in a game this season. In their first meeting, the Crimson had outshot the Bears 51-21.

Brown likes to play an offensive with a flyer—or as some tend to call it, a cherry-picker—who can receive a pass far outside of the defensive zone. Ruggiero said she felt the Bears were always keeping the player high and telegraphing their passes in the first game, a problem which Brown corrected by the second game.

Murphy feels that goaltender Pam Dreyer, a recent first-time U.S. national team selection, has been the biggest reason why the Bears have been able to compete with Harvard. Dreyer made 48 saves in the first game, in which Murphy said her defenders often times were as effective as cones against Harvard’s first line. Dreyer made a whopping 22 saves in the third period of the second game.

Harvard goaltender Jessica Ruddock has made 47 saves between the two games, including a crucial second-period stop of Brown’s Kim Insalaco in the first meeting.

A Crimson victory would set up a meeting with either Dartmouth or Princeton in the league championship. The Big Green and Tigers split their two meetings this season. Dartmouth beat the Tigers 4-0 in January, and Princeton took the most recent contest 3-2. The game has crucial Frozen Four implications for Dartmouth, who is on the NCAA bubble right now, while Princeton is out of the Frozen Four picture.

Stone says Harvard will look to bring its best game regardless of the opponent on the ice. The players are ready to meet that challenge.

“We have a lot confidence in ourselves and each other,” said sophomore Nicole Corriero. “We’re ready for the upcoming weekend.”

—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at remer@fas.harvard.edu.