Women's Hockey To Face Pair of ECAC Foes in Rensselaer, Union

­As Harvard women’s ice hockey takes on Union and Rensselaer this weekend, the team looks to extend its winning streak to five games and continue to pick up more victories against fellow ECAC opponents.

In recent years, Harvard (3-1-1, 3-1-1 ECAC) has dominated the two conference foes. The Crimson recorded a pair of 4-1 victories over Rensselaer last season and handled Union with ease in the teams’ two matchups, netting 12 goals to the Dutchwomen’s three in the pair of games.

Facing a Union team that has not yet won a game this year (0-7-4, 0-2-2) and a Rensselaer squad that has more losses than victories (4-5-1, 2-1-1), Harvard has an opportunity to record back-to-back weekend sweeps. However, the Crimson is taking the classic “one game at a time” approach heading into Saturday and Sunday’s action.

“No matter who we’re playing, we’re always looking to play our best game and improve from last weekend and keep taking steps forward,” captain Michelle Picard said.

Although Rensselaer’s record shows that it has had an inconsistent start to the season, the Engineers have played better than the standings show. Rensselaer has a winning record in conference play, and just defeated then-No. 4/4 Clarkson in its last contest.

All of the Engineers’ losses have come at home as well. When Rensellaer meets the Crimson on the road at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center on Sunday, they will be playing their fifth away game. The Engineers are undefeated as the visiting team this season, having won three games and tied one on the road.

A relatively young Union team has struggled in recent years. The Dutchwomen have not won a game since Dec. 12 when they defeated the University of Maine.

Before being shut out, 6-0, at the hands of a strong Clarkson team last weekend, Union tied consecutive hard-fought games against Colgate and Cornell that would have broken the team’s winless streak.

The Dutchwomen have struggled in particular with preserving advantages.

Union held a 2-1 lead with two minutes to play against Colgate, but the Raiders managed to tie the game on a power play 19 minutes into the second period. Facing Cornell, the Dutchwomen built a 2-0 lead heading into the second period, only to see their lead completely wither away after two consecutive scores in a Big Red comeback effort.

Since Harvard’s 2-1 loss to Dartmouth on Oct. 23, the team has not lost a game. After going to overtime with Clarkson and finishing with a 0-0 result, the Crimson has earned three consecutive victories over St. Lawrence, Yale, and Brown.

As Harvard starts stringing together multiple victories in a row, it has often been the result of several different players having peak performances at the same time.

Freshman forward Grace Zarzecki was just named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week for her two-goal effort against Yale while sophomore forward Karly Heffernan has five assists in the team’s last three games, all wins.

“Grace is a great player,” Picard said. “She’s got a lot of energy, a lot of speed, and she works hard. She’s had a great start, and it will be exciting to see how she progresses from here.”

While co-captain Emerance Maschmeyer has been competing with the Canadian National Women’s Team in the Four Nations Cup, Harvard’s other netminders have stepped up in her place.

In two starts, junior Brianna Laing has two wins and only surrendered two goals in each game. Classmate Molly Tissenbaum earned the win and made 22 saves in the team’s most recent contest, a 5-1 win over Brown, and she also turned away 23 shots in a 0-0 draw against Clarkson.

“Brianna and Molly have done a great job. . . and they’ve been a huge part of our success these past couple of weekends,” Picard said.

Though her teammates have held down the fort while she was in Sweden, the Bruderheim, Alberta native returns to the Crimson to lead the team in this weekend’s pair of home games.

The team will certainly benefit from the 2014-2015 All-Ivy League First Team goaltender’s presence on the ice and the focus that she brings to the team.

“There’s a level of focus around Emerance that’s just unmatched by anybody else I’ve ever seen,” senior forward Miye D’Oench said on Oct. 28. “When she suits up for a game, you just know that she’s got it covered.”

With preseason rust now starting to wear off, a complete Harvard team will look to continue rolling against its conference opponents. The Crimson will attempt to continue its win streak to replicate its success from the 2014-2015 campaign by beginning its journey to the Frozen Four.