Surprising Huskies Halt Winning Streak

All good things must come to an end. Halting an eight-game winning streak with its second loss of the season, the No. 4 Harvard women’s hockey team fell short, 3-2, against the Huskies last night at the Freitas Ice Forum.

“UConn came out flying and played a tremendous game,” coach Katey Stone said. “We came out of the gates slowly and had to play catch-up the majority of the game. We just didn’t have an inspired effort [last night].”

Although both the Crimson (11-2-0, 9-1-0 ECAC) and the Huskies (11-4-1, 7-1-1 Hockey East) still hold first place in their respective leagues, UConn got the better of Harvard, seizing upon the Crimson’s lack of energy to claim a victory.

“We’re basically everyone’s biggest game on the schedule, and they were obviously looking forward to playing us, so absolutely they definitely stepped up their game,” captain Jennifer Sifers said. “I think we were caught off guard a little bit...I just don’t think we played our best hockey or as smart as we could have. When it came down to it, they were working harder and stronger than we were, and that happened to be the difference in [last night’s] score.”

Late in the first period, the Huskies took advantage of Harvard’s poor coverage on a power play opportunity, as UConn’s Jaclyn Hawkins took a shot from the back door on a wide-open net to capture a 1-0 lead 17:39 into the frame.

“They entered the zone and did some kind of takeover, and our four people out there were confused on their positioning,” Sifers said. “There was nothing our goalie could have done.”

The Crimson managed to get on the scoreboard 7:01 into the second period, as freshman Randi Griffin broke through the scrum in front of the net to tie the game, 1-1.

But the Huskies quickly countered with a goal of their own, as UConn’s Dominique Thibault found the back of the net one minute later, reclaiming the lead, 2-1.

After Thibault was sent to the box for checking, Harvard capitalized on the power play opportunity to tie it up again 14:36 into the third period. By winning the faceoff against the Huskies, sophomore Sarah Vaillancourt set the play in motion and, along with sophomore Jenny Brine, assisted in setting up a scoring opportunity for sophomore Sarah Wilson, who gained an open position on the post to slide in a goal, evening up the score, 2-2.

“They went out pretty determined and were able to move UConn out of position, and Sarah ended up wide open,” Sifers said. “I wish we could’ve had more of those.”

But the Huskies would not be stopped, as UConn’s Kristen Russell retaliated by slamming in the game-winning goal 16:46 into the third period.

“We got unlucky and didn’t clear the puck to the corners like we know how to do,” Sifers said. “But it came at the end of the game with only three minutes left, and it’s really difficult to come back.”

With a minute and a half left on the clock, the Crimson hoped to heighten its offensive pressure by pulling goalie Brittany Martin for a 6-on-5 man-advantage.

Harvard’s last-ditch efforts were not enough to topple the Huskies, as the game concluded with a 3-2 loss for the Crimson.

“We were playing to win; we’re obviously going to take the chance on them scoring on the empty net if we could tie it up,” Sifers said. “But it was just too late,” Sifers said. “We tried several times to get the puck on net, but we weren’t able to capitalize on our man-advantage and we just ran out of time.”

Although Harvard outshot UConn 27-25, it failed to overcome Huskie goalie Brittany Wilson, who had a 0.927 save ratio coming into last night’s match-up.

“Ultimately, I don’t think we played with the sense of urgency that we’re used to playing with,” Stone said. “We had some opportunities on the power play, but we were out of sync today due in large part to UConn’s energy and hustle and our lack of being ready to go. It was just not our day.”

Returning home, the Crimson will take on New Hampshire at the Bright Hockey Center this Friday.