Tandem of Raimondi, Wilson Proves Lucrative for Offense

When the puck dropped for the Harvard women’s hockey team in its ECAC opener Friday night, the Crimson knew it would have to rely on its returning veterans as well as this year’s recruiting class in order to repeat as conference champions.

Harvard turned to that blend of youth and experience in beating Quinnipiac 5-3 at Bright Hockey Center—a victory highlighted by the work of freshman Sarah Wilson and senior Jennifer Raimondi. The duo combined for six points including four Raimondi assists—half of which came on Wilson’s two goals.

“Being able to play with JR as a freshman is a really good thing,” Wilson said. “She has three years of Harvard hockey under her belt, and she’s kind of taken me under her wing, and taught me the basics of the game.”

Wilson, whose goals against the Bobcats were the third and fourth of her two-game career, seems to have made a smooth transition into the ranks of collegiate hockey. But an overall sloppy performance by the Crimson has the team hoping that more of its freshmen can step up in the way Wilson did.

“Our freshmen, they’ve got to grow up pretty quickly,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “It’s not like we’re kind of easing them into this lineup. They are the lineup, a lot of them.”

Wilson got involved in the action early against Quinnipiac. Less than five minutes into the game, she received a checking penalty, but the time in the box might have settled her down—she scored the game’s first goal later in that period on a Harvard power play. Her second goal came late in the middle period, and she began the final frame the same way she began the first—with a penalty, this one for goaltender interference.

It is the penalties, among other things, that leave the Crimson with the most room for improvement.

“We need to clean that up and our effort needs to be constant,” Stone said. “But again, we survived, and that’s what we’re trying to do, we’re just trying to survive.”

In addition to the Wilson goals, Raimondi also assisted on the game-winning score by junior Liza Solley, as well as an empty net tally from captain Carrie Schroyer. Her four points represent a game-high for the Crimson this year.

The next night, Raimondi looked to use Wilson to stage a repeat performance.

In Saturday’s 3-2 defeat of Princeton in the Ivy opener, Raimondi and Wilson again had a major hand in the Harvard offense, getting in on all three goals. Raimondi scored the first two times for the Crimson, the second on Wilson’s first assist of the year. Raimondi then returned the favor on a goal by Wilson that proved to be the game-winner.

In last weekend’s 7-0 season-opening win against Robert Morris, Wilson’s two goals were less integral, but many feel that she is at her best when working with Raimondi.

“I think there’s some good chemistry there right now, and we’ll take them from wherever we can get them,” Stone said. “They did a good job.”

That good job has been a consistent theme for Wilson, who has yet to play a game in college without recording at least two points. The fact that Raimondi has contributed to two-thirds of those points is due in part to what the pair has done to improve off the ice.

“She’s just kind of teaching me the ropes right now,” Wilson said. “Before one of our games, she sat down with me and went over the power play, multiple times. It’s good to have her there to teach me how to do things.”