Special Teams Edge Tigers

Its clash with Princeton was sloppy with a capital P, but the Crimson cleaned up in the end, escaping the opening ECAC weekend with an unblemished record.

Harvard (3-0-0, 2-0-0 ECAC) downed the Tigers (2-1-1, 1-1-0) by a final count of 3-2 at the Bright Hockey Center on Saturday, overcoming a sluggish start to seize the edge on special teams and ultimately the win.

The more effective power play and penalty kill won out in the end, with the Crimson converting 3-of-8 extra-skater chances while holding Princeton to two goals in 10 tries.

On a team forced to rely so heavily on its contingent of freshmen, two seniors—Jennifer Raimondi and Ali Boe—led the way for the Crimson. On the heels of a four-assist performance Friday night, Raimondi put in a pair herself, scoring the game-tying and go-ahead goals while anchoring the top power-play unit.

After a scoreless first period that saw almost as many penalty minutes doled out (12) as shots on net (13), the Tigers finally got on the scoreboard with a man-advantage tally—its first in eight attempts—with just over seven minutes remaining in the middle frame.

That goal was a wake-up call, and given a power-play opportunity of its own seconds later, Harvard evened the score, thanks to Raimondi.

“We just all took a deep breath and realized the penalties were killing us,” Raimondi said. “We played the entire second period man down and a lot of that was our fault. Collectively we just kind of decided to turn it around.”

From the right point, junior defenseman Lindsay Weaver found her open at the top of the set, and Raimondi uncorked a low-flying slapshot than went five-hole on touted Tigers goalie Roxanne Gaudiel.

“It was good to finally put one in the back of the net,” Raimondi said. “I thought I had been hitting some posts lately. I just kept it low, on the ice, and got great traffic from my forwards.”

On the defensive end, with a very green corps of blue-liners in front of her, Boe was again staunch in goal, registering 30 saves. Harvard was out-shot for the second straight day, 32-21, but Boe picked up the slack, turning aside Princeton chance after Princeton chance with the stick and making some nifty stabs with the glove.

“Exactly what you want out of a goaltender,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said of Boe. “To keep you in a game when you’re slow starting and to make the saves you’re supposed to make and come up big. We are still working on our D zone coverage but she keeps us in there.”

Knotted at one entering the final period, the Crimson again snapped out of its malaise of penalties and turnovers courtesy of the power play. After a Katie Johnston rebound effort of a Weaver slapshot toppled Gaudiel, Raimondi picked up the loose puck and buried it top shelf.

The clincher came on a 5-on-3 with 7:26 remaining in the contest. Gaudiel knocked down another Raimondi offering, but it fell at the feet of Johnston, who quickly shuttled it to fast-starting freshman Sarah Wilson for the finish and her fifth goal of the young season.

With the assist, Raimondi wrapped up a seven-point weekend that emphasized the importance of veteran leadership on the squad.

“[Raimondi’s] out there quarterbacking what’s going on and so are a lot of these older kids and we need that,” Stone said. “We need these kids stepping up. They’re well-seasoned and they know what to do so I’m glad they’re starting to take control.”

Despite the perfect won-loss mark Harvard carried through the weekend, what Stone saw on the ice was far from perfect, with thoughtless infractions and absent-minded puck control topping the list of complaints.

“I’m encouraged that we won two games this weekend,” Stone said. “But, oh boy, we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got just about everything to work on. We’re very fortunate to come out of here with two wins.”

—Staff writer Jonathan Lehman can be reached at jlehman@fas.harvard.edu.