Shut Out

Streaks are made to be broken.

No. 9 Harvard (7-5-2, 4-2-2 ECAC) had two important runs snapped at the Bright Hockey Center on Saturday, as it fell 3-0 to No. 3 New Hampshire (12-2-0, 6-1-0 Hockey East). The loss ended a four-game winning streak and marked the first time the Crimson had been shut out in a whopping 141 games.

An inconsistent offensive effort, the Wildcats’ dominant puck possession, and a heady performance by the UNH goalie, Melissa Bourdon, all helped keep Harvard off the scoreboard. The last time the Crimson went without a goal was Nov. 25, 2001 against Providence.

“This is not an easy building to win in,” said New Hampshire coach Brian McCloskey. “Harvard’s a good team and they’re an especially good team at home. So to come in and really control the play like we did, I was very happy.”

Special teams play was a deciding factor in the matchup, and the showdown between the top-ranked UNH power play and the third-ranked Crimson penalty kill ultimately swung in the Wildcats’ favor.

“It’s disappointing,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “We have to be a lot more determined where we put the puck, particularly on special teams, in the defensive end. We were a little careless with the puck in the defensive end and it cost us.”

UNH converted two of six extra-skater chances, going one for three in each of the first two periods. Half of the Harvard penalties were whistled against the team’s freshmen, with first-year defender Nora Sluzas earning two trips to the box.

The Crimson improved its execution in the final frame, firing seven of its 16 shots, and managed to find its legs and a bit of a rhythm but not a way past Bourdon.

“We lost to a better team today,” Stone said. “I thought we played really hard, in the third period especially we did a lot of nice things. It was a good effort for us. It could have been, start to finish, more consistent.”

UNH, in contrast, expertly spread the ice in the offensive zone as it does on its extra-wide home sheet at the Whittemore Center, holding the puck for long stretches and using the low man behind the net to send pass after dangerous pass skidding through the crease.

“Their forwards were really cycling the puck down low well,” senior goalie Ali Boe said. “They were holding the blue line really well so it made it difficult for us to get it out of the zone.”

If not for several outstanding saves by Boe, a number of last-minute clears by the Harvard defense, and a few shots off the woodwork, the final score could have been more lopsided.

“Either we misfired or Ali Boe made some great saves,” McCloskey said. “We probably deserved to be up more than 3-0 after two [periods].”

Sophomore Leah Craig was the thorn in the Crimson’s side and the lead playmaker for the Wildcats all afternoon, figuring on all three scores with two goals and an assist. Sadie Wright-Ward (one goal, one assist) and Jennifer Hitchcock (two assists) also turned in multi-point performances for UNH, which now boasts a seven-game winning streak of its own.

Boe turned in a valiant performance in net, totaling 27 stops, but was short of perfect in a contest where anything less meant defeat.

“Ali’s the most consistent player we have,” Stone said. “She was under assault. She weathered a lot of storms today.”

She surrendered the first goal on a wild scrum off a loose puck, the second on a rebounded flick shot, and on the final score she was the victim of a sloppy line change on the penalty kill that opened up a 3-on-1 the other way for the Wildcats.

“Truthfully a couple of the goals, I don’t think she had a chance,” McCloskey said. “She made about three saves and finally we put it in behind her.”

The second goal, which dribbled over the goal line after Boe had made the initial shoulder save, prompted the usually stoic netminder to swing her goalie stick at the post.

“On that one I thought I was in position and should have had it,” Boe said. “It just kind of trickled up my arm there. That’s one I wanted back and the minute it went in I knew it was my fault. It was just my frustration there, letting it out.”

Harvard’s 7-5-2 record through 14 games is only slightly better than the ignoble 7-6-1 mark the squad carried into winter vacation a year ago before ripping off a 21-game unbeaten streak that carried it all the way to the NCAA title game.

The Crimson meets archrival Dartmouth at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Bright Hockey Center in its last tilt before breaking for the holidays.

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