In a game serving primarily as Ivy League preparation, the Harvard women's ice hockey squad skated circles around club team Boston College to notch an 8-1 victory last night at Bright Hockey Center.
The Crimson scoring burden was shared by seven skaters--Amy Hartung, Kate Flather, Karen Carney, Julie Sasner, Char Joslin, Johanna Nielson and Nina Simonds--but Carney wound up the high scorer with a goal in each of the first two periods.
Joslin, a freshman blueliner, demonstrated outstanding passing skills and puck control, and had a bevy of assists to go along with her lone tally.
For Harvard, the game was an opportunity for experimentation with new strategies and line-ups. Boston College, on the other hand, had a hard enough time just hanging on.
The Eagles barely tested Harvard's second-period entrant in net, freshman goalie Suzy Carter. Carter made five saves and yielded only one goal, on a shot from B.C.'s Amy Brown in the final minutes of the third period.
The Eagle goalie, Sue Hughey, faced a regular firing squad. Left at Harvard's mercy because of a weak B.C. defense, Hughey garnered an impressive 58 saves.
Crimson junior Hartung gave an early spurt to the game, scoring first against Hughey with 13:39 left in the first period. "This game was a good release for me," Hartung said. "I felt like I got everything together today."
Following Hartung's initial blast, Harvard went on to dominate the remainder of the contest. All four Crimson lines got into the action, and the 18 Harvard players wore out the Eagles' 11-deep roster.
"Using all four lines, Coach [John] Dooley gave the first two lines a break, helping us cut down the risk of injury," Carney said. "It was good that everyone got the chance to play."
Dooley rotated his forwards and backs, and encouraged all his players to fire shots on goal.
"The coach was really switching us around a lot," said Simonds, who lined a pretty goal high into the net to close out Harvard's scoring. "We play Yale and Brown next week, so this was a game to try out new things."
Despite the 8-1 win, Nielson expressed mixed feelings about the Crimson performance. Nielson commented on the slower pace of last night's game, compared with Harvard's more expert display against Providence last week.
Although the icewomen lost to Providence, 6-0, "we played a pretty good game," Nielson said. "When we play teams like Boston College, on the other hand, we play more down to their level."
Nonetheless, the Crimson has another chance to face a club team Thursday, as it hosts Boston University at 7 p.m.
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