HANOVER, N.H.—Before the start of the season, Harvard women’s hockey coach Katey Stone warned that the Crimson might struggle during its tough pre-Christmas schedule.

And to a degree, it did.

At one point, Harvard had lost four in a row—all to WCHA opponents.

Through it all, however, Stone talked and talked about maturing. Harvard always seemed close—but just came up a little short.

Although it may be hard to believe, watching all of these games left me feeling that if this maturation thing did work out, the Crimson would start getting the breaks and winning these big games.

Unfortunately for Harvard, I do not decide the rankings. The Crimson fell to No. 8 in both the national and PairWise Rankings, leaving it tentatively hanging on for that eighth and final Frozen Eight playoff spot.

With a 6-3 win Saturday afternoon against No. 2 Dartmouth—which stands at No. 1 in the PairWise Rankings and has only lost to No. 1 Minnesota—Harvard has once again jumped back into contention not only for the ECAC crown, but also the NCAA championship.

Finally, the young team that entered the season missing the amazing guidance of one of the world’s best female hockey players in Angela Ruggiero ’02-’04 has found its own rhythm and has proven that it cannot be overlooked.

Interestingly enough, just as Ruggiero makes noise about her own post-college development in hockey—she made history as the first female non-goalie to play with a men’s professional team last week—her old team is now learning how to play tight team defense and turn tri-captain Nicole Corriero’s offensive domination into victories.

To understand the importance of the convincing win over Dartmouth, think for a second about the hole in which the Crimson would have found itself with a loss.

Harvard would have been five points behind in the ECAC standings, possibly dropping to ninth in the national rankings, and facing a must-win situation in the ECAC playoffs where the pressure would have been incredible. It would have lost all the momentum the team had built after the break for exams, and, most importantly, be looking ahead to a possible first round of the Frozen Eight against any one of a number of teams that had already beaten Harvard.

Instead, it seems like everything is coming up Crimson now. With the Beanpot, games against St. Lawrence and Dartmouth, and, most importantly, the ECAC playoffs still on the schedule, Harvard may even be able to claw back up into the top four and secure a home game for the first round of the playoffs.

Obviously, as Stone always likes to point out, nothing is decided and now Harvard must return to a big game to take home its 11th—and seventh-straight—Beanpot championship. Besides, one win does not make a season, in much the same way that the Crimson’s four losses to WCHA opponents don’t either.

The playoffs are what make or break the season for many teams, and the win against Dartmouth can only help the Crimson’s confidence grow as the regular-season schedule quickly comes to an end.

In past seasons, no team outside the top four spots—and often, not outside the top two spots—has had a real chance at winning a national championship. Harvard still stands behind Minnesota and Dartmouth, among others, in the standings, but has now shown the hockey world that there is reason to believe it can make some noise from outside that sancrosanct group of the top four teams, and prove that women’s hockey really does benefit from the newly expanded championship that gives four more teams a chance to upset those on top.

Now we must wait and see if the Crimson has truly come together and can prove that this year’s team is capable of matching the accomplishments of Harvard’s last two teams.

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