Women's Hockey Solid in Shutout Victory

Some hockey games are dramatic, hinging on key penalties and last-minute heroics. For the Harvard women’s hockey team, Friday night’s win was not one of those games—but the Crimson’s not complaining.

No. 6 Harvard (10-4-4, 8-4-2 ECAC) dominated from whistle to whistle, blanking conference bottom-dweller Union (5-19-1, 1-11-1), 4-0, at Bright Hockey Center.

“We used a lot of people, we got better as the game went on,” Crimson coach Katey Stone said. “Our puck protection was real good, our transition game was excellent today, and I’m pleased with how we played.”

Junior Liza Ryabkina scored a pair of goals and freshman Laura Bellamy—starting in place of injured senior Christina Kessler—made 13 saves for her first career shutout.

“It’s [Bellamy’s] first win, so everybody was extremely excited for her,” Ryabkina said. “It was really important for us as a team.”

Harvard outshot the Dutchwomen, 53-13, for the game, while accumulating just two penalties to Union’s seven.

One of those Dutchwoman penalties set the stage for the Crimson’s first goal.

Union’s Kayleigh Melia went to the box for hitting after the whistle with just under five minutes to play in the first period, and Harvard didn’t take long to capitalize.

Co-captain Cori Bassett fed the puck to freshman Jillian Dempsey, who in turn crossed it to junior Leanna Coskren left of the goal. Coskren’s one-timer hit the back of the net just 17 seconds into the power play.

Through its seven power plays on the night, Harvard racked up 15 shots.

“We changed up our power play a week ago, and I think we’re getting some pretty good chemistry going,” Stone said. “We’re getting good looks at the net, and that’s the key to any power play—finding kids [in] underneath seams…We’ve got to bury a few more, but we will.”

Though the Crimson would have plenty of power-play chances through the game, it failed to score again with the man advantage—including through 49 seconds of 5-on-3 play in the second period.

“We could have scored more,” Ryabkina admitted.

In fact, the Dutchwomen’s best scoring chance of the night came with Harvard on the power play. Though Union’s Lauren Hoffman was whistled for bodychecking, an icing call on the Crimson set up a faceoff in its defensive zone.

The Dutchwomen won the faceoff and ripped off a quick shot that hit the left pipe and skirted wide.

The Crimson netted its second goal at even strength at 14:40 of the second. Senior Anna McDonald, who led the team with seven shots on the night, won the puck on the boards and passed it back to Ryabkina, who was crashing the net.

Ryabkina lit the lamp to make the score 2-0.

Harvard came back from the second intermission to play its best hockey of the game, generating 18 shots in the final frame and creating opportunity after opportunity.

Midway through the period, the Crimson notched its first shorthanded goal of the season. Though junior Katharine Chute was in the box for tripping, her linemates were entirely unfazed.

Having pushed Union back into its defensive zone, junior Kate Buesser intercepted a pass and found Dempsey in the slot for the easy goal and the 3-0 lead.

The Dutchwomen came close again as their power play expired, firing a shot that just grazed the crossbar, but Harvard added a fourth goal three minutes later.

Fresh off the bench, Ryabkina picked up a loose puck and fired an unassisted top-shelf shot that Union goaltender Alana Marcinko barely saw coming.

“It was me and Anna McDonald, and I called for the puck,” Ryabkina explained. “I knew where the net was, so I just shot it through the screen and it went in high glove.”

Bellamy made three saves in the final frame to preserve her shutout and earn her first win in three starts.

But on an evening of total Crimson dominance, Ryabkina was quick to point out that the victory belonged to the entire squad.

“All of it was the team plays,” she said. “That’s how we win games, and that’s how we want to continue winning games.”

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