Women's Hockey Holds On For 4-3 Senior Day Win Over Yale

Controlling the puck wasn’t enough. Neither was generating scoring opportunities. The No. 6 Harvard women’s hockey team (15-5-4, 11-5-2 ECAC) just couldn’t get the puck past Yale goaltender Jackee Snikeris in the first period. But a pair of back-to-back Bulldog penalties changed the tone, and Yale (9-13-3, 7-10-1) would never fully recover in the Crimson’s 4-3 victory Saturday afternoon at Bright Hockey Center.

Despite faster skaters and more scoring opportunities, Harvard couldn’t find the back of the net for almost the entire first period, and the Bulldogs generated just enough fast-break opportunities to give the Crimson a scare. Were it not for the strong play of Harvard’s defense and freshman goaltender Laura Bellamy, the game might have taken a different turn.

“Their goaltender did a great job for them, and it took us a little bit of time to figure that out,” Crimson coach Katey Stone said.

But Yale’s speed deficit caused it to resort to other means—holding and hooking—and it was these compensation efforts that did it in.

“We were a faster team, and we were able to create some power plays for ourselves by moving our feet,” co-captain Cori Bassett said. “As a result, they had to hold on a little bit, and that’s what got us some power plays.”

Alyssa Clarke was sent to the penalty box at 18:27 for holding. Twenty-two seconds later, she was joined by Jamie Gray, giving the Crimson a 5-on-3 advantage.

Fifty seconds into the second power play, Bassett fired the puck from the perimeter. This time, Snikeris couldn’t stop it, as senior Randi Griffin buried the co-captain’s slapshot with 21 ticks left on the clock.

But even though the period ended, Harvard wasn’t finished capitalizing on that power play. When play resumed in the second with the Crimson up by one goal and one skater, Harvard wasted little time. Freshman Jillian Dempsey scored 39 seconds into the period.

“Everyone was sharing the puck and moving the puck nice and crisp and hitting the open player,” Dempsey said. “I was just there for a rebound and was able to bring it home.”

But power plays came back to haunt Harvard two minutes later, as the Bulldogs were able to convert a man-up situation of their own. Bray Ketchum weaved her way through the four Crimson players left on the ice and beat Bellamy to make the score 2-1.

But, once again, Yale couldn’t stay out of the box, and soon enough Harvard found itself with the advantage.

Junior Leanna Coskren was able to widen the margin back out to two, slicing the puck past Snikeris from the left corner.

And the Crimson just kept coming, using its superior speed to create more shot opportunities as it owned a 16-5 shot advantage in the period. Harvard didn’t need a penalty for its final goal of the night, this one coming from freshman Kaitlin Spurling.

“I think one of the best things about this year is that if it comes down to the end of the game, we can look to anybody and anybody can put the puck in the net,” Bassett said.

Unfortunately for the Crimson, the only ones putting the puck in the back of the net in the third period were Bulldogs. Yale had finally figured out how to stay out of the penalty box, and Snikeris was playing like the stalwart she had been in the first period.

And though the Crimson still dominated the puck, its inability to convert came back to haunt it in the final five minutes of regulation, after Stone had pulled Bellamy in favor of junior Kylie Stephens.

Ketchum was able to slam home her second goal of the night off a rebound at 15:41, but the real scare came three minutes later when Harvard co-captain Kathryn Farni was sent to the penalty box.

Five seconds later, it was a one-goal game when Samantha McLean fired a slapshot past Stephens.

“We lacked a little intensity at the end,” Stone said. “Our kids would want to have that back.”

And for the first time all game, momentum had shifted to the Bulldogs. But all the Crimson had to do was keep the puck out of the net for a minute. Though the Bulldogs had the puck in the final seconds, they wouldn’t cross the blue line, and the Crimson escaped with a one-goal victory.

“I guess I wish we’d finished a little stronger than we did,” Stone said. “But you know, it’s okay—a win’s a win.”

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