Coachless Crimson Preps for Old Foes

The No. 3 Harvard women’s hockey team is back to its winning ways.

The team’s December loss to New Hampshire is ancient history, as the Crimson (14-1-0, 11-0-0 ECAC) has opened 2008 with three dominating victories. Now, coming off of back-to-back shutouts of Colgate (4-0) and Boston College (7-0), Harvard will look to preserve its undefeated conference record this weekend at St. Lawrence (14-6-0, 7-1-0 ECAC) and Clarkson (14-4-2, 5-3-0 ECAC).

But the Crimson will be without a key member of the team—head coach Katey Stone. Stone is currently coaching the US National Under-18 team at the World Women’s U18 Championship in Calgary, Alberta. Team USA will play in the semifinals tomorrow night.

Assistant coach Joakim Flygh has taken over behind the bench for the week, guiding Harvard to a blowout over the Eagles on Tuesday night.

“We have all the faith in the world in our assistants,” senior tri-captain Caitlin Cahow said. “It’s almost like [Coach Stone] is with us all the time.”

“It’s business as usual,” Flygh added. “There shouldn’t be much of a difference.”

The Crimson is determined to keep its focus on adding to its lead in the ECAC this weekend against two teams it has already found success against this season.

When the Golden Knights and Saints visited Bright Hockey Center in November, Harvard dispatched both easily, recording a 5-0 blanking of Clarkson before following up with a 5-1 victory over St. Lawrence.

“They’re fun teams, tough competitors, and great players,” Cahow said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Part of the challenge for the Crimson will be taking such a long road trip so close to final exams. The team will have to endure more than six hours on a bus before playing two tough games in a twenty-four hour period.

“It’s strange being on a different schedule,” Cahow said. Harvard is one of only two ECAC teams, along with Princeton, to take finals after Christmas break. But the captain, fresh off her first career hat trick against Boston College, remains optimistic.

“Everyone figures out a way to deal with exams and we’re no exception,” she said.

The Crimson will face its fare share of challenges from the Saints on Friday night and the Golden Knights on Saturday afternoon. Most notable among those obstacles will be getting the puck past Clarkson’s excellent pair of freshman goaltenders.

Eve Grandmont-Berube and Lauren Dahm have been splitting time as of late, and they have both found significant success in the net. Grandmont-Berube boasts a 1.25 goals against average through 13 games, while Dahm has posted a nation-leading 0.93 GAA in her eight games.

Although he is unsure which goalie his team will face, Flygh remains confident.

“We’ll be well prepared for both of them,” he said.

Luckily, Harvard will counter with a standout goalie of its own. Sophomore Christina Kessler has posted six shutouts on the season and owns a 1.00 GAA, good for second in the country. She also took home ECAC Goalie of the Week honors for the second time this season following her 32-save effort in the wins against Cornell and Colgate.

“She’s been steady all year long,” Flygh said. “She’s always there coming up with the big save.”

“[The BC game] was Christina at her best,” Cahow added. “She’s feeling good about how she’s playing and we’re feeling good about how she’s playing too.”

With Kessler in top form, the Crimson is primed to have an excellent weekend before returning to the books.

“We’ll have two great games, take our final exams, and then get focused on the second half of our season,” Cahow said.

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.