Women's Hockey Tops McGill, 4-1, in Preseason Scrimmage

Co-captain forward Jillian Dempsey scored a goal in each of the first two periods as the Harvard women’s hockey team took down McGill, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon at Bright Hockey Center in the Crimson’s first and only preseason matchup.

Harvard controlled the game throughout, never trailing and outshooting the visiting Martlets, 29-13.

In addition to Dempsey, forward Kalley Armstrong had a big offensive day for the Crimson. The junior assisted on three of the Crimson’s four scores.

A number of different lines and defensive pairings rotated in for the Crimson during Saturday’s exhibition. In net, captain Laura Bellamy and freshman Emerance Maschmeyer split time and combined for 12 saves.

“It was good to get almost everyone on the ice together,” Bellamy said.

Facing McGill, Harvard had the edge from the start, firing three shots within the first minute. After opposing goaltender Taylor Salisbury corralled Dempsey’s first shot of the night, the senior converted on her second, giving the Crimson an early 1-0 advantage.

Harvard fell on the wrong end of the game’s first penalties, as freshman forward Dylanne Crugnale and sophomore forward Hillary Crowe served two minutes for too many players on the ice and checking, respectively. But the squad survived the early scare and surrendered only one shot, which was handled by Bellamy.

Harvard finished the contest with 14 minutes in the penalty box, due in large part to five third-period infractions.

Just minutes into the second period, early pressure paid off again for the Crimson as Dempsey tacked on a second goal. After some back-and-forth play, sophomore forward Samantha Reber extended Harvard’s lead to three by winning a faceoff that eventually led to her goal 8:53 into the frame.

McGill got on the board early in the third, but a score from freshman Miye D’Oench sealed the 4-1 Crimson win.

The matchup was the second of a three-game United States trip for the Martlets, who dropped the first by a margin of five to Dartmouth.

Harvard will open regular season play next week with a pair of road ECAC games.

—Staff writer Daniel A. Grafstein can be reached at dgrafstein@college.harvard.edu.