NOTEBOOK: Women's Ice Hockey Needs Consistency to Harbor Success

A pair of battles between ECAC heavyweights saw the Harvard women’s ice hockey teams split games against No.4/4 Quinnipiac and No.9/9 Princeton. After dropping a 1-0 decision to Quinnipiac in a defensive brawl, the Crimson bounced back to defeat Princeton by a 4-1 margin.

A TALE OF TWO GAMES

The few fans who showed up for both games would be hard pressed to find many similarities between the two Crimson’s performances this weekend. After the team struggled on almost all fronts against Quinnipiac and was outplayed on Friday, Saturday’s matchup saw Harvard play one of its arguably most complete games of the season against the Tigers.

While the team struggled to gain momentum early on against the Bobcats, it aggressively attacked the Princeton goal and scored two goals in the first frame, en route to its first game with more than two goals after failing to do so in the five previous games.

Additionally, the penalty kill was pivotal for the Crimson in the latter game. After allowing Quinnipiac to score on its only power play of the night, Harvard killed all four of Princeton’s power plays on Saturday. Among those kills was an impressive shutdown of a 6-on-4 power play after Tiger goalie Kimberly Newell was pulled from the net for another forward in an attempt to narrow the then-two goal deficit.

“We were on them, right away,” said Harvard coach Katey Stone on Saturday. “I thought our forecheck was the difference today in the game… I’m happy they got the win today because [the team] certainly earned it.”

MASCH'S MESH

One constant in both games was the stellar play of co-captain and goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer. The Bruderheim, Alberta native–who is the Crimson’s all-time leader in saves–held two potent offenses to a mere two goals, while posting a combined 72 saves including a season-high 37 against Quinnipiac.

“Emerance came really big for us, especially at the end,” said senior forward Miye D’Oench after the Princeton game. “I don’t know how she saved a couple of those.”

One could even argue that only one goal of the weekend's two was Maschmeyer’s fault. In the matchup against the Bobcats, it appeared that the netminder had been pushed out of the crease by a Quinnipiac player, allowing the puck to squeeze into the goal. While further review by the referees confirmed the goal stood–the refs claimed one of Maschmeyer’s teammates had caused the incident by bumping into the Quinnipiac player who pushed Maschmeyer–it was the only blemish for the goalie.

The senior’s play between the sticks has been pivotal to the success of the Crimson this season. Maschmeyer is currently ranked second in the nation in save percentage and seventh in goals against average and more than held her own against fellow elite goalkeepers and Quinnipiac and Princeton counterparts Sydney Rossman and Newell, outdueling the latter on Saturday.

“We got a great effort from [Maschmeyer],” Stone said. “She’s been amazing… To be able to weather the penalties at the end, the 6-on-4, I’m proud of our kids.”

SITTING ON THE BUBBLE

Though the weekend’s split gave Harvard two points in a tight-knit conference race, there is still plenty of work to be done if the Crimson wishes to extend its season as long as possible.

Harvard currently sits fifth in the conference, meaning it would have to play an extra series and then go on the road for its quarterfinals matchup in the ECAC post-season tournament were it to make it that far. While a post-season conference championship would guarantee a spot in the NCAA Tournament, the Crimson would likely have to go through opponents such as Quinnipiac once again.

If Harvard fails to win the ECAC, a wild-card berth is not guaranteed. With only eight teams making the playoff field, and four of those going to conference champions, the Crimson would likely have to be ranked within the top eight nationally in order to vie for one of the four remaining spots.

With Harvard currently outside the top-10 in the PairWise Rankings, it has plenty of work to do to regain its ranking. The road to recovery starts this Tuesday, as Harvard will get its second crack at No.1/1 Boston College in the semifinals of the Beanpot. A win against the then-top ranked Eagles in the 2015 Beanpot Finals helped spark a run of play which saw the Crimson finish as national runner-ups.

While it may be tempting for the team to get caught looking ahead, the team insists it will take the road one game at a time, starting with its matchup on Tuesday.

“The trick is to take it one game at a time,” D’Oench said. “You focus on the next enemy. Right now it’s BC so we’re focusing on that for now.”

—Staff writer Julio Fierro can be reached at julio.fierro@thecrimson.com