Women's Hockey Prepares for Road Tilts Against Princeton, No. 4 Quinnipiac

After winning two of three games against ranked opponents last week, the No. 7/8 Harvard women’s ice hockey (8-2-1, 5-1-1 ECAC) returns to conference play this weekend against Princeton (7-4-1, 3-4-1) and No. 4/4 Quinnipiac (11-1-3, 6-1-2).

Heading into the weekend, Harvard has continued to rack up wins in both league and non-conference play. Though the Crimson dropped its first game since Oct. 23 last week when it lost, 4-2, to Minnesota Duluth, the team finished the week with a 2-1 record after defeating then-No. 4/4 Northeastern, 3-0, as well as UMD in the second game of their weekend series.

“We have played tough ranked opponents and faired well thus far, so we feel good about these couple games,” junior defender Abbey Frazer said.

Recently, the team put together a winning streak of seven games before the loss to UMD, and the team is now finding some cohesion as the season progresses.

“I think [seniors] Jessica Harvey and Miye D'Oench have been playing well up front, especially with Miye scoring some key goals,” Frazer said.

“We feel confident with all our goalies no matter who's in net, but [co-captain] Emerance Maschmeyer has been solid and giving us every opportunity to win,” she added.

Led by Maschmeyer, the Crimson’s steadfast defense has also played an important role in the team’s recent success. Maschmeyer is ranked second in the nation in save percentage, and the team is ranked third in the nation in goals allowed per game. Additionally, Harvard is ranked top five in penalty kill percentage.

“I think our defense as a whole has really been huge for us lately,” D’Oench said.

This road trip, featuring back-to-back games against ECAC opponents, will provide a test for the Crimson, as the Tigers and the Bobcats both have winning records and rank among the ECAC’s top five teams in the standings.

Last year, the Crimson fared very well against these two opponents. In four meetings with Quinnipiac, Harvard won them all, including a 5-0 shutout in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. The Crimson split its two games against Princeton, winning the first matchup at home, 3-0, before losing the second contest on the road, 1-0.

All of Princeton’s losses this season have come in league play so far, and the Tigers have struggled to consistently win games as of late. They handily defeated RIT in two games last weekend by a combined score of 10-1 but had lost their previous three games, including a 3-0 shutout at the hands of Clarkson.

Meanwhile, Quinnipiac could present the toughest challenge Harvard will face this season, perhaps besides undefeated Boston College. The Bobcats have won five games in a row and have only lost once this season—a tight game against Yale on Halloween.

Almost 15 minutes into the final period of its sole loss, Quinnipiac held a 3-2 advantage over the Bulldogs. However, after back-to-back goals from Yale captain Janelle Ferrara, the Bulldogs took the lead and held on to win the game, 4-3.

Despite the loss to a Yale team with only two wins, Quinnipiac has been able to get back on track with five straight wins. Over the course of the streak, the Bobcats shut out then-No. 4/4 Clarkson, 3-0, and have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 16-2. They also have recorded four shutouts over the five-game span.

“I think they’re a really good team,” D’Oench said. “They’re going to be up there in the standings this year. This is...a very important game, so we want to make sure we get a win.”