No. 2 Women's Hockey Battles Back To Win 3-2 in OT

The No. 2 Harvard women’s ice hockey team followed up the Crimson men’s basketball team’s remarkable comeback with a come-from-behind, overtime win of their own Saturday, defeating St. Lawrence, 3-2, in Canton, N.Y.

A day after Clarkson snapped Harvard’s 11-game unbeaten streak, the Crimson (17-2-1, 14-1-0 ECAC) did not own a lead at any point in the game until junior forward Kalley Armstrong powered the puck past Saints’ goaltender Carmen MacDonald with less than three minutes remaining in the extra frame.

“This was a tough win for us,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “It was good for us to get back on track.”

The Crimson trailed by no more than one goal the entire game but never led in regulation. Things did not look promising for Harvard as St. Lawrence’s Kayla Raniwsky deflected a slap shot from teammate Dayle Wilkinson to put the Saints up, 2-1, with 11 minutes remaining in regulation.

But in the final minutes, the Crimson appeared determined not to leave its weekend in New York with two losses.

“We certainly did not come all the way out there to get swept,” Fry said. “I think we really just picked it up and started dominating the game.”

Following St. Lawrence’s second goal, Harvard controlled the possession, as Fry and co-captain Jillian Dempsey peppered MacDonald with shots. Dempsey and Fry led all skaters with ten and nine shots, respectively.

“I saw us stand up to the play, holding the blue line defensively and trying to be more aggressive,” Stone said.

Dempsey finally broke through with 6:18 left on the clock. Harvard’s leading scorer squeezed a shot from the top of the crease past MacDonald’s pads off of a centering feed from sophomore defender Michelle Picard.

“[Dempsey’s] goal was her just going hard to the net,” Fry said. “That was just what we needed.”

In overtime, St. Lawrence (13-9-2, 8-3-1 ECAC) called timeout with three minutes left to play. Off the ensuing faceoff in the Saints’ zone, sophomore defender Sarah Edney rang a shot off the post. In the scramble in front of the net to recover the puck, Fry found an open Armstrong in the slot for the game-winner.

“The thing I love about that [goal] is that our kids, they were in the right spots, dying to score,” Stone said. “They were hungry; they were all over the net, which we weren’t on Friday night.”

In the second period, overlapping hooking minors from Hillary Crowe and Kaitlin Spurling required the Crimson to kill off 1:46 of a 5-on-3 Saints power play. The two teams remained scoreless through 35 minutes.

“We were trying to be too cute, honestly,” Stone said of her team’s play early in the game. “We were trying to make perfect plays and then get the puck to the net. We over-passed and didn’t get the puck on net like we typically do.”

Abbey McRae of St. Lawrence opened the scoring with less than five minutes remaining in the second period. But Harvard forward Mary Parker responded less than two minutes later, converting a turnover behind the Saints’ net into a wrap-around goal.

Co-captain goaltender Laura Bellamy turned away 30 shots for her tenth win of the season. On the other side of the rink, MacDonald stood tall in net for St. Lawrence, making 43 saves during regulation.

“We certainly were struggling to put it past [MacDonald],” Fry said. “At the same time, [the Saints’ defenders] were not letting us get to the net and crash her.”

The Crimson pressured MacDonald throughout the game but particularly in the third period, outshooting St. Lawrence, 19-10, in the final frame of regulation. Armstrong’s game winner was Harvard’s first shot on goal in overtime.

Less than a year ago, the Saints ended the Crimson’s season, upsetting Harvard in the ECAC semifinals with a 2-1 overtime win. On Saturday, the loss provided extra motivation for the Crimson.

“We hit a point where there was no way we were losing that game, especially with [St. Lawrence’s] ending our season last year,” Fry said. “We didn’t go up there for two losses, absolutely not.”

After the .500 weekend, Harvard retained first place in the ECAC. The Crimson sits four points ahead of Cornell and Clarkson, who both have played one fewer game than Harvard. Seven conference games remain on the Crimson’s regular season schedule.

—Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at mledecky@college.harvard.edu.