Crimson Faces Big Green Road Test

A heated rivalry between two hockey powerhouses will be restored tomorrow evening in Hanover, N.H., as the Harvard women’s hockey team (4-5-3, 4-2-2 ECAC) takes on third-ranked Dartmouth (7-3-1, 6-1-1 ECAC).

And while the matchup between the two schools already has significant implications for supremacy in the Ivy League, a win for the Crimson could also go a long way in gaining momentum after a tough start this season.

“[Dartmouth’s] been a rival for years,” senior tri-captain Jenny Brine said. “Talk about an Ivy League game, and our last chance before Christmas to prove that we’re the team that can win big games.”

Harvard will certainly have a lot to prove because for the first time in almost seven years, the Crimson has dropped out of the Top 10 in the national poll.

“Coming off of such a great season last year and still having the great talent that we had, I think that there’s definitely been frustration [on the team], especially when we’re not putting points up on the board,” Brine said. “When it comes down to it, we have to stay positive, keep working hard, keep doing things well, and make sure we’re doing everything we can to be a better team.”

Junior goaltender Christina Kessler offered a similar remedy.

“We’ve just got to capitalize and settle down. I think the fact that we’ve been worrying about expectations caused us not to play at our full potential,” Kessler said. “We just have to play hockey.”

Meanwhile, Dartmouth is coming off a tough second-straight road loss to defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth. Despite the loss, senior goaltender Carli Clemis made a career-high 48 saves, including 17 in the second period alone. Harvard must find a way to get past Clemis—who has registered a .942 save percentage—if it wants a chance for victory.

Offensively, the Big Green is loaded with offensive talent and skill. Senior Maggie Kennedy, junior Jenna Cunningham, and sophomore Amanda Trunzo lead the team with 15, 14, and 13 goals, respectively. Senior co-captain Sarah Newnam has been a stalwart on the defensive front, ranking fifth in the nation in defensemen scoring with 0.89 points per game.

Providing even more of a challenge is the fact that Dartmouth is undefeated at home, with an impressive 5-0 record at Thompson Arena.

But the Crimson players remain unfazed by the game ahead of them. Harvard returns senior Sarah Vaillancourt, perhaps the most dangerous player in the college game. The winner of last year’s Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner as the nation’s best player, Vaillancourt leads the team along with senior Sarah Wilson with 14 points.

In addition, Wilson has accounted for four of the team’s 13 power play goals.

“The first line of offense has scored the majority of the points, so we definitely have our share of offensive firepower,” Kessler said.

Defensively, junior Cori Bassett leads a defensive unit that has only allowed 0.8 points per game. Kessler has a .923 save percentage in the net.

With all the talent and returning players, it will likely be the team’s resiliency that will decide the Crimson’s fate. Harvard is 2-5-1 in away games and 1-5-1 when the first goal is scored against the team.

“We have to make sure we’re ready to go and know exactly what to do when we’re on the rink,” Brine said. “More importantly, we have to play strong D-zone, man-to-man, and overall, just play smart.”

A win in Hanover would definitely help the Crimson salvage what has been an underperforming first half of the 2008-2009 season.

“I wouldn’t say that we’re in “must-win” situations yet," Kessler said. "We just have to get out there and have some fun and not worry about records."

Going into the last game of the year, the Harvard women’s hockey team won’t take any opponent lightly. But when it’s Dartmouth that’s just around the corner, expect the Crimson to come out onto the rink ready to go.

“[Dartmouth is] definitely a team that always comes out trying to beat us, so they’re always fired up, lots of intensity,” Brine said. “We have to find a way to counter and simply score more points than they do.”

—Staff writer Kevin T. Chen can be reached at ktchen@fas.harvard.edu.