Harvard Secures Crown, NCAA Spot

The Harvard women’s hockey team had seen everything in its three-week run to the precipice of the national playoffs—overtime thrillers, defensive nail-biters, goaltending duels—except an offensive outburst of the order it was involved in yesterday.

But yesterday at Appleton Arena in Canton, N.Y., the fourth-seeded Crimson (18-12-4) rallied from a two-goal deficit with three unanswered scores to overcome third-seeded Brown (15-13-5) by a 4-3 final and secure its third consecutive ECAC Tournament title and an automatic berth into the NCAA Frozen Eight next weekend.

“It was a long, hard road to get here, and it’s been a tough day,” Harvard coach Katey Stone told reporters after the game. “It was a bit of a struggle early on for us, and our kids just battled. They have a lot of moxie, they didn’t go away, and I’m really proud of them.”

The two teams combined for an astounding seven goals in the final 15 minutes of the first period, then went scoreless the rest of the way.

“I don’t think either team expected that [kind of first period], but I think [it] was the result of a little bit of nerves by both teams,” senior Jennifer Raimondi said in a television interview between the first and second periods. “We just settled down and stuck to our game plan, and once we answered back, we knew we were going forward.”

Leading the charge for the Crimson was freshman Sarah Wilson, whose two goals, including the game-winner with 1:15 left in the busy opening period, earned her tournament MVP honors. On that tally, Wilson took the puck out of the corner and beat several defenders in working the puck out in front of the net, before beating substitute goaltender Nicole Stock top shelf.

“Those were great shots,” said Raimondi of Wilson’s contributions. “She’s shown great poise all season and those were two great goals there for us.”

The key for Harvard, it turned out, was the rapidity of its reactions. When the Bears took its first lead at the 5:50 mark, the Crimson answered immediately off the ensuing faceoff. On a textbook 2-on-1, junior Katie Johnston dished to Wilson on the right and Wilson lifted a wrister over the glove of Brown starting goalie O’Hara Shipe.

Then, after falling behind 3-1 on Brown leading scorer Hayley Moore’s second of the game and a scramble goal by Kathryn Moos, Harvard equalized and seized the advantage before the horn sounded on the period. First, Raimondi poked a loose puck through Shipe’s pads, then freshman Jenny Brine cleaned up another rebound, this time on the power play, to tie the game and chase Shipe. The Crimson finished the game 1-for-5 with the man advantage, while the Bears were unsuccessful in their lone extra-skater opportunity.

On the heels of the outstanding game of her senior season the day before, in which she delivered 40 saves in a 3-1 upset semifinal win over St. Lawrence, netminder Ali Boe struggled in the early going yesterday, relinquishing three goals in a span of 3:35 to Brown.

From that point on, though, Boe steeled herself against the Bears’ attack, turning away several good chances—including one offering that glanced off the crossbar—over the final two frames to preserve Harvard’s narrow lead, and with it, her collegiate career.

“I think I was a little nervous there to start with,” Boe said. “And one quick goal got in and a couple of bad bounces on the [next] two, but I should have had them. Then, after that, I just had to bear down and give everything I had in front of the puck to try to keep it out of the net.”

The top line of Wilson, Johnston, and Raimondi turned in its most complete effort of the season. Wilson added an assist to her two goals, Johnston also finished with three points, and Raimondi amassed a goal and an assist on the afternoon.

The tournament title was the program’s record third straight and fourth in six seasons and also ensured entry into the eight-team field for the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson, now just three wins away from a national championship, will tangle with the Wildcats of the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H. this Friday at 7 p.m.

“It’s been a really tough season for this group of kids,” Stone said. “They’ve been up, they’ve been down, but certainly they’re up at the right time of the year.”

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