W. Hockey Wins Battle of Top Penalty Kill Units

Maybe great offense is better than great defense.

Or maybe it works the other way around.

On Saturday, the Harvard women’s hockey team outlasted Mercyhurst and its great defense with a little bit of both.

“We don’t just build on offense, we build on great defense too,” senior tri-captain Nicole Corriero said.

“I think the key momentum swing was some of their early power plays,” Mercyhurst coach Michael Sisti said. “Obviously, their power play is tremendous and they gained some key momentum off their power-play goals.”

Mercyhurst entered the Frozen Eight contest against Harvard with the best penalty kill unit in the country, while the Crimson boasted the second-best power play.

In the end, Harvard won both the game and the special teams battle by converting on three of its 10 opportunities.

Each of the goals was crucial, as they kept the Crimson within reach of the Lakers—bringing the score to 2-1, 3-3, and 4-4.

Most importantly, Harvard took care of business when it was supposed to—making Mercyhurst pay for its penalties and mistakes. Two of the three power-play goals came on 5-on-3 advantages when the Crimson needed to convert its chance to get back into the game.

Conversely, the Lakers could not capitalize on any of their five power plays—including one minute of 5-on-3 in the first period and half a minute in the first overtime.

Although the Crimson special teams’ defense does not match up statistically with that of Mercyhurst, on Saturday it was able to overmatch the Lakers’ offense. Ranked fifth in the country, Harvard has been playing much better of late by not letting opponents get into their offensive flow.

“I attribute this win to our defense,” junior tri-captain Julie Chu said. “They played tough and they had a lot of pressure from Mercyhurst. I think offense takes care of itself in a certain way, but defense—you need to be precise about it.”

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS

It’s safe to say the NCAA women’s hockey championship had not seen any game quite like Saturday’s matchup between the Crimson and the Lakers.

After the marathon affair, which, at close to 113 minutes set a record for longest-ever game in the tournament, a number of other NCAA and personal highs fell.

In particular, Mercyhurst’s Desirae Clark rewrote the record books for goaltenders in the NCAA championship tournament. She notched 78 saves over the almost six periods of play, demolishing the previous high of 51.

“She gives us a chance every night,” Sisti said.

“Clark is an amazing goalie, so straight-on shots aren’t going to beat her,” Corriero said.

Harvard junior Ali Boe followed up her career-best performance last Sunday against Dartmouth by posting a new high of 56 against Mercyhurst.

“We came in flurries and she made some key saves when she had to,” Sisti said of Boe. “Obviously, I don’t think they got this far without quality goaltending.”

The combined 134 saves from the pair of goalies smashed the previous high of 85 by two teams in one game.

On the ice, Nicole Corriero continued to add to her unbelievable season with four more goals on Saturday. Her season total—and record high of goals for a season—now stands at 58 with two more games to play, within one of the college hockey record for men and women set by Michigan State’s Mike Donnelly in 1986.

DO OR DIE

On Saturday, Mercyhurst pushed Harvard to the limit before the Crimson righted its ship and prevented the upset.

A day earlier, an even bigger surprise hit the women’s college hockey world as St. Lawrence went into Duluth’s rink and came away with a shocking 3-2 overtime win.

The Saints were the first team to register an upset in the NCAA tournament back in 2001, and followed in the same form Friday when forward Emilie Berlinguette beat Bulldogs netminder Riitta Schaublin top shelf just over 11 minutes into the extra frame.

“One thing I give [St. Lawrence head coach Paul Flanagan] and his team credit for is that they found ways to win a lot of games this year,” Sisti said. “Sometimes that’s leadership, sometimes that’s luck.”

Berlinguette scored twice for St. Lawrence, while goaltender Jessica Moffat registered a career-high 42 saves.

For Duluth, Patty Kazmaier finalist Caroline Ouellette scored once and notched an assist in the losing effort.

In nearby Minneapolis, Minnesota proved why it was deserving of the No. 1 seed by easily beating Providence 6-1. In the night’s biggest surprise, neither Krissy Wendell nor Natalie Darwitz—who rounded out the final three nominations for the Patty Kazmaier—scored for the Golden Gophers. Instead both senior Kelly Stephens and freshman Bobbi Ross put two into the net.

For the Friars, Katelynn Laffin scored the game’s first goal before Minnesota took over.

The final game of the weekend pitted fourth-seeded Dartmouth against fifth-seeded Wisconsin. The contest went back and forth until the Big Green’s Katie Weatherston registered her second goal of the game 15 minutes into the third period. Dartmouth held on from there to take the quarterfinal contest, 4-3.

Next Friday, the Big Green will face the Golden Gophers in the other semifinal of the Frozen Four.

—Staff writer Gabriel M. Velez can be reached at gmvelez@fas.harvard.edu.