A Close Encounter With the Third Line

It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

But the Harvard women’s hockey team’s third line—junior Kat Sweet, sophomore Carrie Schroyer, and freshman Liza Solley—doesn’t mind it one bit, having spent the better part of this season perfecting a potent forecheck and stepping up the pace and aggressiveness of the game whenever sent onto the ice.

“I’m small but sometimes I think I’m bigger,” the 5’3 Sweet said. “Sometimes I just throw myself in the air and get tossed around but I think definitely we can all hold on our own. We just try to keep our feet moving and go 110 miles per hour.”

For the Crimson, the combination of Sweet, Schroyer and Solley has kept and at times exceeded the pace of the first two lines with aggressive and physical play that intimidates opponents, allowing only two goals as a line this season.

Although Schroyer, Sweet and Solley may not have the most impressive scoring stats—the line has combined for 24 points this season—they frustrate opposing first and second lines by keeping the puck in the offensive zone with forechecking and hustle. Their hard skating and work along the boards draws penalties and their fearlessness while playing against bigger and more experienced opponents has earned them a reputation as intense contributors to the team.

“The three of them are always talking in the locker room and trying to make their line gel together,” co-captain Angela Ruggiero said. “When you take all that together, the three of them, the whole team has faith in them, that we can roll three lines without a doubt and that they’re going create opportunities for us.” Ruggiero added that this dynamic threesome is in her mind “the best third line in the country.”

A key component to this faith in the success of the third line is the energy that they bring off of the bench.

“They just go in there and wreak havoc on the other team’s defense and make so much happen—it’s just such a great energy boost for us,” said junior and team-leading scorer Nicole Corriero.

For a team hoping to take home a national championship from Providence this weekend, depth is one of the biggest keys.  With women’s college hockey at one of the strongest and deepest points in its history, it takes more than one or two scoring threats to win it all.

“You can have the best two lines in the country, but in a big game those two lines are going to get tired, and you need the third line to go in there and do some great forechecking and score a goal,” Ruggiero said.

“Forget about other third lines—they’ve shut down top lines on top teams in the country,” Corriero said. “I think about how awesome it is for us going into double overtime to be able to roll three lines and dominate the game. It’s just incredible to have that much depth and to be able to know that your teammates are going out there and making a difference.”

Productivity as a line requires thinking in unison and clicking together as a unit, so success is about more than just what the team or the opponents think of them.  Sweet, Schroyer and Solley attribute their success to appreciating and understanding each other’s game and attitude.

“I think our styles all complement each other very well in terms of vision, hand and speed. I think we all have little pieces of each other that make the line work out real well,” Schroyer said.

Schroyer brings the speed as one of the fastest skaters on the team, while Solley contributes the strength and physical play that have earned her the most penalties of the three. The smaller but more experienced Sweet serves as the leader of the line, acting as the most vocal skater on the ice.

“Kat is great at getting our team fired up. She’s great at motivating her teammates and getting them excited to hit the ice and run out,” Schroyer said.

Sweet is the first one to admit that sometimes she might even take on too much when she’s one the ice, itching to get in on the fray.

“I wouldn’t call her a drill sergeant, I’d call her a motivator,” Schroyer said. “I think Kat is great at getting our team fired up. We’ll be sitting in there, maybe this past weekend, tied game with Brown, we’re trying to figure out what we need to work on. And Kat just kind of sparks us and is like, ‘hey, we know how to play hockey.’ She’ll just pump people up.”

Not only do the skaters know their roles on their own line, but they also embrace the larger role they play as a unit for the Crimson.

“We’ve get the puck down to [the opposing team’s] end, forecheck it, tire the other team out,” Schroyer said. “[We} give our girls rest so that they can get out and keep that pressure on. A big part of our success is knowing what we need to do to be successful and get the puck down in their end, chasing the other team and tiring them out and keep them on their toes.”

After playing together all year, the line has seen results in the last six weeks from its hard work in both games and practice and their off-ice bonding.

“Towards the end of the season we’ve started to pick up production and scoring chances even if we haven’t gotten the puck in the net,” Sweet said. “Now we’re not just dumping and chasing. We’re setting up plays.”

The teamwork and growth shown by the third line serves as a perfect example of the chemistry that has lead the Crimson to the Frozen Four.

“[It’s] those little intangible things that really bring a team together. You can’t really create it, but we just have it this year. Off-ice we have a good time together,” Ruggiero said.

And if things go according to plan, the line might have a championship to share with the rest of the team as representative of the season long fight.