Crimson Blanks Cornell in Game 1

For two periods, the Harvard women’s hockey team was unrecognizable. The recently dominant Crimson missed offensive opportunities, looked sluggish on the ice, and seemed to lack the sense of urgency that a playoff series should inspire.

It took one long shot off the stick of junior Kathryn Farni to change that.

No. 7 Harvard reasserted its authority in the final frame to earn a 3-0 victory over Cornell in the first game of the ECAC quarterfinals Friday afternoon at Bright Hockey Center.

“I think we came out a little slow,” Crimson coach Katey Stone said. “They battled hard, and it took a little while to figure out how we were going to win.”

With less than three minutes to play in the second period, Harvard set up in the Big Red zone. Tri-captains Sarah Vaillancourt and Jenny Brine played the puck up from the corner to Farni.

From the blue line, Farni launched a slapshot at Cornell goaltender Jenny Niesluchowski. The puck was deflected off a defender’s stick and found its way through the five-hole.

“I think Farni’s goal was definitely huge,” Brine said. “[She] sparked the game for us.”

Riding a wave of momentum into the final period, Harvard left its early-game struggles far behind.

At 2:36, third-line center Liza Ryabkina won a battle on the boards and brought the loose puck around to the front the net. The sophomore stumped Niesluchowski with a backhanded shot for the unassisted tally and the 2-0 lead.

“Ryabkina coming off the low walkout, going strong to the net—we felt like that was open all day,” Stone said. “It was just a matter of finishing those types of plays.”

After Ryabkina’s goal, Harvard seized complete control of a game that had previously been an evenly matched affair.

The team got some insurance on a well-executed transition play from its top offensive line at the midway point of the frame.

Sophomore Katharine Chute skated up the middle of the ice, and flipped the puck back to Vaillancourt, who was charging behind her. Vaillancourt made a perfect pass to Brine, who took the puck in stride and lifted it into the top center of the net to put Harvard up, 3-0.

But in the game’s early stages, the Crimson didn’t play like the heavily-favored ECAC regular-season champion it is. In fact, it was the eighth-seeded Big Red who controlled the first 40 minutes of play.

The Cornell offense, led by sophomore standout Rebecca Johnston, spent much of the first and second period pressuring the Harvard zone, and its in-your-face play frustrated the Crimson.

“I think we had to work really hard for our chances,” Stone said. “They were playing pretty physical, and we had to come off the wall. Once we realized we could do that today, that’s where we took advantage.”

Harvard failed to convert on two early power plays and couldn’t find a way to crack Niesluchowski, who came up with one acrobatic save after another to keep the Crimson off the board.

Chute got the best opportunity of the opening frame on an odd-man rush with Vaillancourt, but the sophomore’s high shot clanged off the crossbar.

“We just weren’t getting the bounces there in the first,” Brine said. “I think we played well defensively…so even though it was scoreless after the first, I think we took a lot of good things from it.”

It was thanks to junior goaltender Christina Kessler that Harvard was able to rebound from its early-game sluggishness and come away with the victory.

Kessler made a career-best 36 stops on the afternoon, matching every Niesluchowski split and tumble with an equally impressive glove save. It was the junior’s second career playoff shutout, with the first coming by the same count in last year’s ECAC semifinals.

The Crimson also continued its dominance on the penalty kill, holding the Big Red scoreless in three opportunities. Harvard’s penalty-kill unit, ranked fifth nationally, has allowed just two goals in its last 37 opportunities.

But despite the positive outcome, the Crimson refused to settle for a performance that was anything less than its best.

“I think they all know that they’re capable of playing better than they did today,” Stone said. “We’re looking for a little bit better effort from everybody, and hopefully good things will happen.”

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