Chu plays back with Banfield.
“We knew coming in that it was going to be a different game,” Raimondi said. “This whole season is going to be a different game. Whatever the situation is, we are going to be ready to go. Hopefully we’ll get better at staying out of the box and learning the system.”
On the penalty kill, Harvard finished the weekend holding its opponents to one for 15—an impressive number that is somewhat counterbalanced by the lackluster offensive display of its opponents.
PLAYING WITH A FULL DECK
This week, Chu and Vaillancourt leave for the American and Canadian national teams, respectively, in order to play for their countries in the Four Nations Cup.
“I was focusing on my two games here, and now I’m focusing on my national team games,” Vaillancourt said. “I just learned that I won’t only be playing against Julie, but I will be playing against Jamie Hagerman, my assistant coach.”
Their absence will take a big chunk out of the Harvard offense, and in the latter stages of Saturday’s game against Cornell, the Crimson seemed to be trying out who it will play with on Wednesday versus Providence.
“We have a lot of depth, especially at forward,” Corriero said. “And we have a lot of players ready to step forward. Other players take it on themselves to step it up.”
From the way the team was mixed up on Saturday—and Corriero’s own speculation—the replacements on the first line will be Raimondi and junior Carrie Schroyer. This line played a bit together on Saturday, but might also be changed based on the return of sophomore Katie Johnston from the soccer team.
With the soccer season over for the women, Johnston will most likely return to the ice today and will play with the team on Wednesday.
Her return will hopefully provide an offensive boost to counteract the loss of Vaillancourt and Chu, but only time can tell.
2:00 MINUTES IN THE PENALTY BOX
Sophomore defenseman Lindsey Weaver, who has not been with the team due to injury, is looking to return today and join Banfield and junior Jennifer Skinner as Harvard’s top players at the back...Saturday’s game was postponed for an hour at the start because the officials were unable to make it to the rink on time. It is the first postponement for the Crimson at home since Nov. 5, 2000, when Harvard’s two zambonis caught on fire and spewed smoke onto the rink.
—Staff writer Gabriel M. Velez can be reached at gmvelez@fas.harvard.edu.