Women's Hockey Sweeps Rensselaer, Union

The No. 8 Harvard women’s hockey team rebounded from its tough loss to Boston College at the Beanpot, sweeping Rensselaer and Union this weekend to clinch home ice in the opening round of the ECAC playoffs.

Against Rensselaer (9-19-4, 6-12-2 ECAC) on Friday night, a strong start carried Harvard (18-8-1, 15-4-1) to a 4-2 victory. The following afternoon, the Crimson was able to close out the perfect weekend, as strong play by junior goalie Laura Bellamy lifted Harvard to a 1-0 victory over Union (4-24-4, 2-16-2).

“We played really well Friday night, and I was impressed with how intense we came out right off the bat,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “Rensselaer is a good team, and I think we controlled the majority of the game. On Saturday, it wasn’t our best game, but we were able to persevere.”

The Crimson continued to perform at a high level on the road, finishing the regular season with a 10-3-1 record away from the Bright Hockey Center.

HARVARD 1, UNION 0

Sophomore forward Lyndsey Fry’s first-period goal, her second score of the weekend, proved to be the difference in the 1-0 victory over Union in Troy, N.Y.

With under thirty seconds remaining in the first period, Dempsey was able to steal the puck away from the Union defender and found Fry as she entered the Union zone. Fry weaved between the Dutchwomen defenders before lofting a well-placed shot into the top corner of the goal.

“I think that [the goal] was important at the time,” Dempsey said. “We hadn’t gotten on the board yet, and it was a little frustrating since we were dominating the period but didn’t have any results. So it was great to get that goal and get that momentum.”

The Crimson was able to maintain the lead behind the strong play of Bellamy, who recorded 24 saves in the shutout.

“Bellamy was terrific for us,” Stone said. “She had to be, and we got the goaltending when we needed it.”

The shutout was Bellamy’s sixth of the season and second against the Dutchwomen.

Harvard was able to control the puck for a majority of the game, peppering the Union goalie with 35 shots. But the Crimson was unable to increase its lead, as Dutchwoman netminder Kate Gallagher recorded 34 saves.

But behind a strong defensive effort keyed by Bellamy, the Crimson was able to preserve the one-goal lead and ultimately the victory.

HARVARD 4, RENSSELAER 2

Facing the Engineers in Schenectady, N.Y., the Crimson was able to get on the board first when Harvard freshman Samantha Reber scored off an assist from Dempsey with a little over five minutes left in the first period.

“In the past five or six games, the other team scored first, and we have had to play comeback,” Dempsey said. “So to score first in RPI was huge for us.”

Sophomore Marissa Gedman widened the Crimson’s lead to three with two power-play goals in the second period.

After Fry added another score for the Crimson in the third, the Engineers began to strike back, as senior Laura Guillemette and junior Taylor Horton pulled Rensselaer within two with a little under nine minutes remaining. But the comeback proved to be too little too late, as the Engineers failed to score the rest of the way.

With the weekend sweep, Harvard created some needed momentum for the upcoming home games against Brown and Yale.

“If we go out there and do that, we will put ourselves in a good spot heading into the playoffs,” Dempsey said. “We have the ability to control the game from start to finish and play Harvard hockey.”

—Staff writer Cameron Dowd can be reached at camerondowd14@college.harvard.edu.