Following a break in hockey for first semester finals, the Crimson dropped a high scoring contest to Princeton, 6-3 and looked as if it might slide down from the all-important top four spots in the national rankings.
Harvard really asserted its status as a national contender during a stretch in mid-February when it defeated Brown in overtime, and then followed that with a two-game sweep of ECAC challenger and then-No. 3 St. Lawrence.
The two victories moved the Crimson into the lead in the conference, which it never relinquished.
Once again, however, Harvard had to turn its attention quickly to the second game of the season in one of the best rivalries in collegiate women’s hockey.
One week after Harvard took the No. 1 ranking in the country, the Big Green passionately defeated the Crimson in a tight, down-to-the-wire contest.
A game that saw Ruggiero ejected for allegedly kicking an opposing player who was on the ice with her skate, ended with a goal from Gillian Apps with 1:10 remaining to give Dartmouth the 3-2 victory.
After that road bump up in Hanover, Harvard got back up on its horse and did not lose again until the National Championship.
After surviving a close game with Yale—which took a last minute goal by current tri-captain Nicole Corriero to win it 1-0 for the Crimson—Harvard won out in the ECAC playoffs.
The closest game of this stretch was the quarterfinal match-up against Brown. While the Bears’ Jessica Link had come close to converting on a couple of 1-on-1 opportunities in overtime, ultimately the Crimson freshman Katie Johnston ended the game by throwing the puck towards the net from the far right side and getting the lucky bounce into the net.
In the Frozen Four, Harvard faced off against a familiar foe in the first round, defeating St. Lawrence for the fourth time on the season.
The championship game featured two fluid and quick teams facing off, and Minnesota’s amazing first line was able to get the better of the Crimson, scoring four goals in the three periods.
“We are happy with our ECAC championship, but losing in the finals two years in a row stings a bit,” Chu said.
But don’t think for a minute the Crimson will come out this season with an emotional hangover. The team claims the loss last season has only been a motivator.
“To be so close to achieving your goal, and lose—two years in a row for some of us—only makes you hungrier to do it the next year,” Corriero said. “We know what we want, and we know we are capable of getting it.”
—Staff writer Gabriel M. Velez can be reached at gmvelez@fas.harvard.edu.