It was a little easier to take this time.

After losing to Minnesota in the NCAA championship game last season by a score of 6-2, the Harvard women’s hockey team had to go home defeated, knowing it not only lost grasp of the national championship for the second year in a row, but also that two of its strongest leaders—Angela Ruggiero ’02-’04 and Lauren McAuliffe ’04—would never return for another title run.

This past Saturday, the No. 4 Crimson (6-3-1, 6-1-0 ECAC) came a little bit closer to overcoming the No. 1 Golden Gophers (13-0-1, 11-0-1 WCHA) and walked out of Bright Hockey Center with its collective head held high, losing 5-3.

“You can certainly swallow it tonight much more than last night [against Wisconsin], because [Minnesota] is tremendous,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “I really feel like the Gophers earned everything they got tonight.”

“We both have pretty strong first lines, and we came out and had a battle,” Minnesota co-captain Krissy Wendell said. “They have a lot of good speed and a lot of good talent out there.”

After both teams traded goals early on, Minnesota pulled away when Wendell—a member of the U.S. National Team along with linemate Natalie Darwitz and Harvard junior tri-captain Julie Chu—completed a hat trick and put the Golden Gophers up by two.

While Harvard did a good job containing the Minnesota power play—highlighted by a successful kill of a 5-on-3 disadvantage in the first period of play—the potent Golden Gophers unit finally broke through eight minutes into the second period.

After passing off the puck to Darwitz behind the goal, Wendell stealthily waited by the far side of the net. Her ploy paid off when senior Kelly Stephens passed the puck right through the Harvard defense and Wendell one-timed it home. The goal was her 22nd of the season, tops in the nation.

Minnesota added one more to raise its total tally to five on the evening, while Harvard has now given up 11 goals in its last two games.

The Crimson knows it will have to focus on the defensive zone, where it showed some improvement after moving Chu back to the blue line in the third period.

“We are a tough team that is not going to give up,” Chu said. “Our heart is never going to get ruined by another team. We need to buckle down on defense.”

The Golden Gophers showed the Crimson the power of a good defense on Saturday, having given up no more than two goals to any opponent before Saturday’s matchup and averaging 0.83 goals-against on the year. Even on Saturday, the defensive unit managed to hold the Harvard second and third lines in check.

“It always helps to have a good offense, but I also think that [our defense] is a little bit unheralded,” Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson said. “There’re big names on that line, [including] Lyndsay Wall, who played for the US National Team.”

On the other end of the ice, Harvard’s offense managed an average of four goals a game over the two contests, and came fighting back at the end of the Minnesota game even when down by three.

With 2:18 left to play and down 5-2, junior Jennifer Raimondi took a hard slap shot at the Golden Gophers’ goalie, Jody Horak, who made the first save, but could not prevent the puck from bouncing off Crimson tri-captain Nicole Corriero’s skate and into the net. The goal was Corriero’s second on the night and 18th for the season. She also added an assist, bringing her career point tally to 201.

Freshman Sarah Vaillancourt continued to impress by throwing seven shots on net and scoring Harvard’s lone power-play goal by placing the puck over a sprawled out Horak just 55 seconds into the second period. Later, midway through the third period, Vaillancourt intercepted a pass and had a one-on-one run against Horak, but could not get the better of the Minnesota netminder. Horak registered 20 saves for the game.

“I know they made some changes and we were very aware when their top players were out there,” Halldorson said. “I thought we did a good job out there.”

Wendell scored her second goal of the game on a play similar to Vaillancourt’s in which she managed to beat Harvard junior goalie Ali Boe. With the score tied 2-2, Wendell sped down the ice with the puck during a Crimson power play and deked to her left, then brought the puck around to her right and just past Boe’s outstretched left leg. The shorthanded goal was Wendell’s sixth of the season, and Minnesota’s 16th.

Following a season-long trend, Minnesota was able to take over the game during penalty situations. Aside from Wendell’s shorthanded goal, the Golden Gophers held the Crimson to 1-of-8 on the power play, while posting an efficient 1-of-4 on its own advantage situations.

Nevertheless, Stone stayed optimistic for Harvard’s future against the Gophers.

“They are what they are cracked up to be,” Stone said. “Are they beatable? Absolutely.”

—Staff writer Gabriel M. Velez can be reached at gmvelez@fas.harvard.edu.