Fry Scores Four as Women's Hockey Wins, 4-0

Sophomore Lyndsey Fry led the charge for the Harvard women’s hockey team with a four-goal performance en route to a 4-0 victory over Yale on Saturday at Bright Hockey Center.

The Harvard women’s hockey team (20-8-1, 17-4-1 ECAC) easily handled the hapless Bulldogs (1-27-1, 1-20-1) on Senior Day to earn the series sweep.

“I think we played with a lot of composure which is something we struggle with sometimes, especially when emotions are high like [Saturday],” Fry said. “I think we played really well together and made the simple passes, and when we did that we had a lot of success.”

After the game, senior Alisha Baumgarter was honored with a video tribute as part of her last regular season game for the Crimson.

“We have been calling it ‘Baumer day’ since she is our only senior,” Fry said. “We wanted to win this one for her and have it be a great finish to the season and hopefully lead a great start to the playoffs.”

Harvard previously defeated the Bulldogs, 8-0, on Jan. 27 earlier this season. The Crimson has dominated the matchup against Yale in recent years, going undefeated in the last 23 games against the Bulldogs.

With the win, Harvard clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming ECAC playoffs, where the Crimson will first meet Princeton at home.

“Having that much success and working that well together means a lot heading into the playoffs,” Fry said.

The Crimson got on the board first with a power-play goal by Fry. The sophomore fought for position in front of the net and redirected a shot from the point by junior Josephine Pucci, giving Harvard a 1-0 lead.

Fry added to the lead five minutes later. After freshman Samantha Reber put a shot on net that the goalie initially stopped, Fry was able to take the rebound and flick a shot past the out-of-position netminder.

“I really focused on driving to the net hard,” Fry said. “Samantha had a great shot, and the puck bounced to my stick.”

The Crimson kept pressuring to increase the lead in the period, as junior Jillian Dempsey made two strong moves to put herself in scoring position but ultimately hit the post twice in under a minute.

Yale goalie Genny Ladiges kept the game within reach with 20 saves in the first period.

Harvard again controlled the puck in the second period, outshooting the visitors, 8-1, in the opening eight minutes of play.

The Bulldogs had a chance to pull closer with three Crimson penalties in the first 10 minutes of the frame. But in Yale’s second power play of the period, Harvard turned the short-handed situation into an advantage with Fry gaining control of the puck on a break with only one defender to beat.

Fry, while holding off the Bulldog defender, kept the puck on her backhand before switching to her forehand and lifted a shot past Ladiges, giving the Crimson a commanding 3-0 lead with 11:01 left to play in the frame.

“The Fry-Dempsey-Reber line had a good day,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “We moved the puck really well and put a lot of pressure on them by transitioning the puck quickly. We had a strong penalty kill and a shorthanded goal…. A lot of good things happened for us [Saturday].”

But Fry was not finished. In the final frame, Fry added to her hat-trick when she made a well-placed backhanded shot in traffic over the left shoulder of the goalie.

“[Fry] played great. She had a lot of great support, and she put pucks on net, and good things happened for her,” Stone said. “That’s what we are looking for.”

Harvard will now head into the opening round of the playoffs riding a four-game winning streak and will take on Princeton, a squad the Crimson routed in a 10-1 victory on Feb. 4.

“We feel good about where we are,” Stone said. “But this is the end of the regular season, and the postseason is a brand new ballgame.”

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