Big Red Scores in Final Seconds to Force Tie

With just over a month remaining in the regular season, the Harvard women’s hockey team knows that there is no time to waste. But Friday night, a last-second goal prevented the Crimson from picking up a crucial two points in the ECAC standings.

Cornell junior Karlee Overguard found the back of the net with 4.4 seconds left on the clock, forcing No. 6 Harvard (8-4-4, 6-4-2 ECAC) to settle for a 4-4 draw with the No. 10 Big Red (8-7-3, 7-1-3) at Bright Hockey Center.

“It’s not ever fun to come out with the tie,” senior Anna McDonald said. “We’re at that point in the season where we need to start getting the wins [and] not take away from all the hard work that we’re doing.”

Though the final seconds belonged to Cornell, the game’s opening seconds were all Crimson.

On the first shift of the game, junior winger Liza Ryabkina slid a pass to McDonald from the left corner, and Big Red goalie Amanda Mazzotta never saw the senior’s shot coming through traffic. 21 seconds into the game, Harvard was up, 1-0.

“[The line of Ryabkina, McDonald and senior Randi Griffin is] going to net, they’re real aggressive, they got off to a great start the first shift of the game,” Crimson coach Katey Stone said. “I think that gave them some confidence.”

Just over three minutes later, Harvard doubled its lead. Junior Leanna Coskren put the puck on co-captain Cori Bassett’s stick, and the defenseman’s slapshot from the blue line soared past Mazzotta into the net. Rookie Jillian Dempsey was credited with an assist.

“I think it was important, especially against these guys who always come back, that we set the pace right away,” McDonald said. “That helped us.”

But it didn’t take long for Cornell to bring the deficit back to one. Freshman phenom Lauriane Rougeau beat Crimson senior netminder Christina Kessler on the Big Red’s first shot of the game, making the score 2-1 with just five minutes gone in the contest.

Although Harvard would continue to dominate play in the first, outshooting Cornell, 12-8, it couldn’t capitalize on its three power-play chances against the nation’s top penalty-kill unit.

Instead, it was the Big Red that made the most of its special-teams chance early in the second period. With junior Ashley Wheeler in the box for an interference infraction, Cornell sophomore Catherine White put the puck on net. Kessler tried to cover it up, but it bounced right onto the stick of Chelsea Karpenko, who slammed it home.

But good things came in pairs for Harvard, and in the second half of the period, another set of quick goals brought the score to 4-2.

At 13:22 of the second, co-captain Kathryn Farni let a shot rip from the point that bounced hard off the glass behind the net. McDonald picked up the puck and pounded in her second goal of the night.

Less than two minutes later, Ryabkina extended the Crimson’s advantage. Junior Kate Buesser sent a cross-ice pass to her classmate, who roofed the one-timer for the 4-2 lead.

“I felt we played very well tonight and had...a lot of great chemistry between our lines,” Stone said. “Unfortunately, we let them sneak back into the game.”

And sneak back the Big Red did. Another Wheeler penalty gave Cornell an opportunity on the power play, and the Big Red peppered Kessler with shots. From the scrum in front of the net, Laura Fortino was able to pop the puck over the goal line.

Harvard got a chance on the power play late in the third, but again Cornell’s kill unit held it quiet.

With 1:41 to play, the Big Red called a timeout and subsequently pulled Mazzotta from the net. Though Harvard’s defense held strong through the closing seconds, even forcing Cornell back into its own zone, the extra-man advantage was too much in the end.

From another scrum, Overguard lit the lamp with 4.4 seconds with a shot from the slot—completing another third-period comeback for the Big Red.

“It’s disappointing to be up two goals with [12 minutes to play] and have them tie up the game,” Stone said. “And I struggle with the scrums in front of the net and the lack of protection of the goaltender.”

The Crimson got plenty of opportunities in the extra session, getting off four shots and gaining two power plays, but couldn’t find a way to bring home its first victory of 2010.

“It’s extremely disappointing,” Stone said. “There are so many positive things that happened, but we’ve got to close the deal. One way or another, we’ve got to close the deal.”

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