Crimson Bounces Back with Win over Wildcats

When the Harvard women’s hockey team finished its 3-1 dismantling of the University of New Hampshire, the skaters must have declared a collective TGIF: “Thank God it’s Fry-Day” in honor of freshman Lyndsey Fry.

With her team locked in a 1-1 stalemate after the first 20 frame, Fry scored the first two goals of her career in the second period to put the Crimson up for good last night in Durham, N.H.

“It was a good win,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “We played well in all three zones. We had a lot of energy.”

But it was the Wildcats that got off to the fast start when UNH sophomore forward Kristina Lavoie put the puck past Crimson goalkeeper Laura Bellamy, also a sophomore, less than 10 minutes into the game.

Though Harvard went down early, it avoided panicking and running into penalty trouble. Instead it was the Wildcats that grew overeager: UNH picked up three penalties in the first period alone.

“I think we have a really resilient team,” tri-captain Kate Buesser said. “I don’t think we ever think that we’re out of the game. It’s just our mentality.”

A slashing call on Wildcat senior forward Julie Allen around 15 minutes into the first gave the Crimson the window it needed to even the score. Sophomore defenseman Josephine Pucci had the tying tally off assists from Leanna Coskren and Kate Buesser.

The second period was all Harvard, and, once again, it was a UNH penalty that opened up the ice.

The Crimson had been playing man down until a tripping penalty on Wildcat rookie Arielle O’Neill brought the teams to even strength at 6:59 in the second. Twenty-two seconds later, Harvard had a one-goal lead and Fry had her first career goal.

“She rolled to the net hard, used her body well,” Stone said.

Ten minutes later, Fry found the back of the net once more, again on an even strength, 5-on-5 goal.

The rookie’s goal came six seconds before the expiration of a cross-checking penalty on Lavoie and allowed the Crimson to enter its 24-second penalty kill with a two-goal cushion.

Harvard killed it, as it did on all three penalties it faced, a positive sign for a team that entered the contest ranked last in nation in penalty kill.

“Our penalty kill did very well,” Buesser said. “Our whole unit worked extremely well. We kept them from getting to the spots they wanted and taking the shots they wanted.”

The penalty kill was typical of the Crimson’s defensive effort last night.

“We were ready to play with our feet and our sticks,” Stone said. “When we keep our feet moving, good things will happen. Overall, it was nice to stay out of the [penalty] box.”

Harvard conceded only 14 shots all night. After allowing UNH seven shots in the opening period, the Crimson’s blue-liners gave up that many shots in next two frames combined, as Harvard outshot the Wildcats 16-3 and 8-4 in the second and third period, respectively.

“I thought it was a really great defensive effort,” Buesser said. “That was the biggest part of our game today.”

The performance was especially impressive given the challenges that come with playing in the Whittemore Arena, UNH’s home rink.

“It’s so big,” Buesser said of Whittemore. “The angles [the defensemen] play are a little tough. They got in the face of the UNH forwards and helped [sophomore goalkeeper Laura Bellamy] out and helped the forwards out.”

And whenever the Wildcats were able to break through, Bellamy was able to make the stop.

The netminder finished the game with 13 saves.

For Fry, the two-goal performance capped off the freshman’s recovery from mononucleosis. The Chandler, Ariz. native missed the Crimson’s first six games.

“She’s been coming back, getting better and better,” Stone said. “She’s progressing nicely. It’s nice to see some reward for that."

“It’s great to have her back,” Buesser added. “We’re expecting more from her.”

The performance gave Stone a win against her alma mater. A 1989 graduate of UNH, Stone played hockey and lacrosse for the Wildcats.

Stone captained both teams and was a national champion and All-American in lacrosse.

But Stone claims the win holds no special significance for her.

“It’s another big game on our schedule,” she said. “We’re looking to win every game.”

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.