When the buzzer sounded on Saturday, the No. 6 Harvard women's hockey team was not complaining about its 3-2 upset victory over No. 1 Dartmouth. But it had plenty of chances to argue with the officials during the game.
The referees made highly questionable calls in Dartmouth's favor in each of the three periods. In the first, freshman goaltender Jessica Ruddock appeared to stop Dartmouth forward Jennifer Wiehn from point-blank range on the breakaway.
But the ref bit his whistle, allowing just enough time for Ruddock to step back and let the puck slip over the goalline to pull the Big Green even, 1-1.
"I didn't think it went in," Ruddock said. "It was on the goalline underneath my pad and I was trying to hold it there. The first shot didn't go in but I think she banged at it again and pushed it across the line after the whistle.
"I didn't get to see what happened but I guess it must have been right on the goal line when the ref made the call."
Harvard never got a makeup chance because Correne Bredin, one of Dartmouth's imposing defensemen, knocked over senior winger Tammy Shewchuk from behind on a breakaway late in the second. Bredin went to the box, giving the Crimson a six-second two-man advantage, but the officials did not give Shewchuk a penalty shot.
The referees did wave off a goal in the final period, only the call went against Harvard again. With nine minutes left and the two teams deadlocked at 2-2, junior co-captain Jennifer Botterill squeezed a rebound past Dartmouth netminder Amy Ferguson which was quickly swept away by a Big Green defenseman. The goal judge lit the lamp behind the boards, but on the ice head referee Erik Schmakel ruled that the puck had never crossed the goalline.
Botterill--whose status as captain allows her to talk to the officials--rushed to Schmakel for an explanation, and Schmakel then skated to the Harvard bench to make his decision clear to Harvard Coach Katey Stone.
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