The Harvard women's hockey team last night took out all its frustrations in the opening round of the women's Beanpot at Matthews Arena, as the Crimson trounced Boston College, 11-0.
Why the frustrations? The Crimson had dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Brown the previous night.
The Harvard win sets up a matchup with eastern powerhouse Northeastern--a 2-0 winner over B.U.--next week in the 'Pot final.
Harvard (7-3-1 overall, 3-1-1 Ivy) notched its first goal of the game at the 2:45 mark on the first of two Christine Burns scores. Center Martina Albright and wing Lydia Smith led the Harvard scoring chart with a goal and two assists apiece.
The third and fourth lines got a lot of playing time, including the entire third period, against the women from Chestnut Hill. The third line had only seen two shifts the night before against Brown.
Freshman goalie Gillian D'Souza not only stopped all the pucks that came her way, but even handled the few scoring opportunities the Eagles managed to manufacture.
"It's the kind of game I should play," D'Souza said. "It's good to work on getting your concentration out there."
Pandas Pounce
The night before the laugher against the Eagles, Harvard made a trek to Providence for a rematch.
Last December, the Crimson went to overtime with Brown tied at one goal apiece. The Crimson won the game its way: by working the puck around for an open shot after its skating game stalled.
Sophomore Char Joslin took the good shot; Harvard won the game.
Last Monday at Meehan Auditorium in Providence, the Pandas and the Crimson went to overtime again, tied at one. But it was Brown's turn to cash in an overtime goal on its own terms: play dump-it-in-and-chase and head for the net on a perimeter shot.
Margot McShane headed for the net hoping to connect with a Jane Corcoran centering pass; she wound up jamming a loose puck under Jennifer White with 1:43 left in over-time to give the Pandas a 2-1 victory over the Crimson for Harvard's first Ivy League loss in nearly two years.
Harvard had taken the lead in the third period on the power play when Kim Les was in the box for slashing. The Crimson had almost scored on the outset of the power play as Brita Lind almost got a slapshot through Kirsten Rendell's legs. But on an overcommitted Brown defensive set-up, Char Joslin rifled a 40-footer by Rendell to give Harvard the lead.
A lead it would only enjoy for six seconds.
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