New Hampshire, as all people here know unless they are living in a cave, provided the nation with the first presidential primary last night.
The Granite State also happens to be home to the top women's hockey team in the ECAC, as Harvard found out the hard way Sunday afternoon. After losing a heartbreaking 6-5 overtime contest to Colby (12-6-1, 7-6-1 ECAC) on Saturday, the Crimson (9-15-1, 3-10-1) dropped a 7-1 decision to the University of New Hampshire (21-3-2, 13-0-1) in Durham.
In the process of the latter setback, though, there was another first to be seen. Harvard junior A.J. Mleczko became the top scorer in Harvard women's hockey history as she recorded the team's lone goal in the third period.
Mleczko's 25th goal of the year was her 141st career point, breaking the previous record of 140 points held by Sandra Whyte '92.
"She's just an amazing talent," senior Stacy Kellogg said. "[Mleczko] has proven herself as a passer and scorer and team player, and she has ability to do anything on the ice."
Despite Mleczko's record-breaking achievement, the two losses continued the frustrating campaign for an injury-riddled Harvard team. The Crimson is in ninth place in the league and has been officially eliminated from postseason play.
Colby 6, Harvard 5 (O.T.)
Harvard looked as if it would win this contest.
That is, until late in the game. The Crimson, off the strength of a three-goal spurt in a three-minute span late in the third period, held a 5-4 lead over the White Mules at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine.
Kellogg lit the lamp twice in that scoring spree, and freshman Alice DuBois put Harvard up with just over four minutes remaining.
Then disaster struck Harvard, in the form of Colby's Meaghan Sittler. Sittler, the ECAC's leading overall scorer with 79 points (40 goals, 39 assists), notched her fifth point of the contest by tying the game on a four-on-four situation with 1:13 to go in regulation.
And then Sittler set up Barb Gordon 2:37 into the extra session for the game-winner.
"When we got the lead, we were all really pleased, but then we kind of let it get away," Kellogg said.
Sophomore Jen Bowdoin was a busy person in net, stopping 41 shots in the see-saw contest that saw five lead changes.
"At times we played really well, and we never gave up," DuBois said. "I guess we didn't put together three perfect periods at 100 percent."
UNH 7, Harvard 1
UNH is leading the ECAC because of its depth of talent. An Olympic-sized ice surface also didn't hurt the Wildcats Sunday, as they exploited the depleted Crimson corps at the new Towse Rink in a 7-1 win.
The game was close for a long period of time until UNH scored two goals in a 2:36 span to open up a 4-0 lead late in the second period.
"They are a loaded team and have a lot of great people," DuBois said. "We played better than the score indicated."
Wildcat Carisa Zaban was a one-woman wrecking crew, as she scored her team's first four goals. Zaban opened the scoring 8:10 into the first period and then would register a natural hat trick in the second, scoring three goals in just over seven minutes.
The only bright spot in the contest for Harvard was Mleczko's tally, which occurred 3:40 into the third period and cut the deficit to 5-1. On a five-on-three power play, Kellogg sent a shot that Wildcat goalie Dina Solimini stopped, but Mleczko roofed the rebound to break the record.
Unfortunately for the Crimson players, they couldn't enjoy that moment for two reasons. First, nobody was really aware of the significance of the goal at that time since the team's scorer didn't make the road trip.
Also, UNH would score twice more shortly after to ensure the victory.
Bowdoin stopped 33 shots, while Solimini--the ECAC's leading goal-tender--blocked aside 21 Crimson shots to up her record to 11-0-1 in the league and lower her goals against average to a measly 1.37.
The Crimson will finish out its season this weekend with a pair of contests at Bright Hockey Center. On Saturday, Harvard takes on St. Lawrence at 1 p.m., while Cornell comes to town the next day, also at 1 p.m. First Period Col--Mortenson (Sittler) 14:07. (PPG) Second Period Har--Walker (DuBois) 9:44. Har--Walsh (DuBois, Calagione) 13:58. Col--Sittler (Gordon) 16:55. Third Period Col--Gordon (Sittler) 9:05. Col--Charlebois (Sittler, Gordon) 10:35. (PPG) Har--Kellogg (Mleczko) 12:43. Har--Kellogg (Leitzes) 13:08. Har--DuBois (Walker) 15:43. Col--Sittler (Charlebois, Mortenson) 18:47. Overtime Col--Gordon (Sittler) 2:37. Saves: Har--Bowdoin 8-16-15-2 41; Col--Polichronopoulos 7-11-5-0 23.. Power Play: Har--0/4; Col--2/7. First Period UNH--Zaban 21 (Holt) 8:10. Second Period UNH--Zaban 22 (Knox) 9:08. UNH--Zaban 23 13:43. UNH--Zaban 24 16:19. Third Period UNH--Pickles 4 (Heltzman, Renner) 1:26. Har--Mleczko 25 (Kellogg) 3:40. (PPG) UNH--Camins 17 (Heltzman, Pickles) 6:19. UNH--Fisher 23 (Camins, Callin) 8:39. Saves: Har--Bowdoin 8-13-12 33; UNH--Solimini 6-9-6 21. Power Play: Har--1/4; UNH--0/1. Attendance: 250
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