Crimson Falls 4-1, Season Over

DULUTH, Minn.—In a season where everything seemed to come together for the Harvard women’s hockey team, it took just a few minutes for it all to come apart.

The No. 1 Crimson (32-2-0), looking for its first NCAA Championship game appearance since 2005, fell in an upset, 4-1, yesterday at the hands of No. 4 Wisconsin (29-8-3) in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinals at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center in Duluth, Minn.

Harvard could not recover after a three-goal Badgers outburst early in the second period left the Crimson in a two-goal hole.

“It turned the whole tide of the game,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “Defensively, we weren’t as sharp as we were all season, and they’re a good team and when they see things they capitalize.”

After the Crimson took an early 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the first period, the opening frame carried on with fast-paced, back-and-forth action between the two teams, but neither squad could manage to find the back of the net.

That deadlock would change drastically in the beginning of the second, when the Wisconsin offense came to life to explode for three goals within the first seven minutes of the period.

Just 0:18 seconds into the second, the Badgers took the puck into the Harvard zone and forward Erika Lawler wrapped around the net before backhanding the puck past Crimson sophomore goalie Christina Kessler to tie the game at one apiece.

“Erika being what she is—she’s quick, she’s very smart, and she’s sneaky with the puck down low,” Harvard tri-captain Caitlin Cahow said. “That’s what Erika does. She’s a very talented player.”

Wisconsin would take the lead shortly thereafter, when Jasmine Giles one-timed a Tia Hanson pass past Kessler at 2:25 into the period to give the Badgers a 2-1 advantage.

With the Crimson defense falling apart, Wisconsin connected for yet another goal four minutes later on a scorching Jinelle Zaugg one-timer off of a feed from Lawler.

“I’m really proud of my team,” Badgers coach Mark Johnson said. “They responded really well after the first period and came out with some energy and created some scoring opportunities.”

Stone called a timeout following Zaugg’s goal that appeared to calm her team down, and Harvard kept the score at 3-1 for the remainder of the second period.

The Crimson had its best opportunity to close the gap at the onset of the third frame.

Harvard began the final period on the powerplay and came out with a renewed intensity, crashing the net and trying to force the puck past Wisconsin goaltender Jessie Vetter.

But the Badgers defense held up, and Vetter proved herself impenetrable the net, stopping every Crimson advance.

“[The Harvard skaters were] playing for their lives at that point,” Johnson said. “They came at us hard and Jesse came up with some really nice saves there.”

After Wisconsin successfully killed the Crimson power play, Zaugg struck again to essentially put the game out of Harvard’s reach.

Sprinting alongside Badgers forward Meghan Duggan on a 2-on-1 break, Zaugg received a perfect pass from Duggan and slipped the puck past Kessler 3:15 into the third for her second goal of the game and 24th on the season, bringing bring the score to 4-1.

“I’ve played against [Zaugg] a few times and she’s a very strong player with a very strong shot,” Crimson junior Sarah Vaillancourt said. “We knew before that we couldn’t let her by herself in the slot and we did and she capitalized on it right away.”

The three-goal deficit proved to be too much for Harvard, which was unable to muster a comeback opportunity in the final minutes of the game.

“We felt like we were in it, probably all the way until it was 4-1 and then things got a little darker for us,” Stone said. “Unfortunately we didn’t play our best hockey today, and that’s disappointing.”

The Crimson opened the scoring after drawing a penalty just over four minutes into the first period, when Harvard took advantage of the power play opportunity to take 1-0 lead.

Junior defenseman Katie Vaughn needled a slapshot through traffic from the blueline, which junior forward Jenny Brine deflected into the net for her 20th goal of the season.

Vaillancourt, the Crimson’s leading scorer and a Patty Kazmaier Award finalist, almost doubled Harvard’s lead on a shorthanded opportunity when she stole the puck in the neutral zone and found herself on a breakaway, but a Badgers defenseman caught up with her to disrupt the scoring chance.

From that point on, it was all Wisconsin, and as the Badgers head to the NCAA Championship game, where they will play for their third consecutive title, the Crimson can only return to Cambridge and wonder what went wrong, and what might have been.

—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu.