Women's Hockey Seeks Revenge Against BU

The Harvard women’s hockey team heads into its first non-conference game against Boston University this Friday with high hopes to redeem last year’s 2-1 loss.

In recent matchups between the two squads, the Terriers have come out victorious in three of the last four occassions. However, this year’s contest will likely be competitive, as Harvard (6-1-1, 6-1-1 ECAC) and BU (10-2-1, 6-0-0 Hockey East) are ranked fifth and ninth in the nation, respectively.

“Every game we play with BU is always a great battle and another top-ten competitor, so we’re very excited,” coach Maura Crowell said. “BU is still good, and I think people underestimated them at the beginning [of the season].”

Although the two teams haven’t played each other yet this season, they have gone up against mutual opponents. While the Crimson lost to Rensselaer, 2-1, the Terriers came up with a tie. However, Harvard managed to shutout Union, 3-0, while BU only just scraped out a 3-2 victory.

This year, both teams are adjusting to holes in their rosters, as several players from each squad are preparing for the 2014 Olympic Games. Harvard and BU each have relatively young teams, with seven and five freshmen, respectively.

“There was definitely some adversity heading into the season with our head coach and some key players missing,” junior forward Hillary Crowe said. “However, there were never any concerns once the season started. Everybody has stepped up and played key roles when called on.”

Sophomore Emerance Maschmeyer has performed well for the Crimson in goal this year, notching 184 saves and a nation-high 95.3 percent saves rate through seven games. But BU goaltender Kerrin Sperry is no slouch; she has tallied 285 saves in 11 games, with a 94.7 percent saves rate.

On the power play, Harvard has proven more efficient than BU, scoring on six of its 30 man-advantages. In contrast, the Terriers have only managed to convert on seven of their 48 chances.

The Crimson has scored an average of 2.75 goals per game as opposed to the Terriers’ 3.2 goal average. However, Harvard’s goal percentage is 11.8 percent compared to BU’s 9.4.

“They have some very potent offensive players and great goaltending, so we’ll just have to pay attention to those guys on the ice,” Crowell said. “These are things we’ve already faced against teams like Clarkson and Cornell, so it’s not different and it’s just another great test and another opportunity to play a great game.”

Out of the 91 total blocks from the Crimson defensive line this season, captain Marissa Gedman has contributed 15. On the offensive side of things, junior defender Sarah Edney and sophomore forward Miye D’Oench have each nabbed three goals and four assists thus far.

Top threats for the Terriers include forwards Louise Warren and Sarah Lefort, who have 13 points apiece. Freshman Maddie Elia leads the team with eight assists, contributing to BU’s rank as the ninth best-scoring offense in the country.

“I know they’re strong in that they have great individuals, but throughout the season we generally try to focus on ourselves,” Crowe said. “We do scouting reports, but ultimately if we play our own game, we’re confident that we can play with anybody.”

Against the Terriers, Harvard will hope to put a halt to a season-long problem—losing momentum late in games.

“I think we just need to be ready to play against the tough competition,” Crowell said. “[We] want to finish [games] the way we start [them]. We need to focus on being consistent, setting the pace, playing our game for 60 minutes, and not [changing] the way we play depending on how the opponent approaches the period.”

BU has been undefeated in conference play thus far this season. However, the Terriers will come into this weekend’s contest fresh off of a 5-0 loss to Wisconsin, while Harvard has yet to see the end to its four-game win streak.

“They’re always a physical team,” Crowell said. “[BU’s conference] plays a little more physically than ECAC teams do sometimes, and BU is definitely one of the teams that does [so].”

Friday’s contest will mark the Crimson’s first non-conference matchup of the year.

“We need to just keep it simple…and we’ll be fine,” Crowe said. “We just continue to grow each and every game as a team, so I’m confident we are going to be ready for BU this weekend.”