Maybe great offense is better than great defense.

Or maybe it works the other way around.

On Saturday, the Harvard women’s hockey team outlasted Mercyhurst and its great defense with a little bit of both.

“We don’t just build on offense, we build on great defense too,” senior tri-captain Nicole Corriero said.

“I think the key momentum swing was some of their early power plays,” Mercyhurst coach Michael Sisti said. “Obviously, their power play is tremendous and they gained some key momentum off their power-play goals.”

Mercyhurst entered the Frozen Eight contest against Harvard with the best penalty kill unit in the country, while the Crimson boasted the second-best power play.

In the end, Harvard won both the game and the special teams battle by converting on three of its 10 opportunities.

Each of the goals was crucial, as they kept the Crimson within reach of the Lakers—bringing the score to 2-1, 3-3, and 4-4.

Most importantly, Harvard took care of business when it was supposed to—making Mercyhurst pay for its penalties and mistakes. Two of the three power-play goals came on 5-on-3 advantages when the Crimson needed to convert its chance to get back into the game.

Conversely, the Lakers could not capitalize on any of their five power plays—including one minute of 5-on-3 in the first period and half a minute in the first overtime.

Although the Crimson special teams’ defense does not match up statistically with that of Mercyhurst, on Saturday it was able to overmatch the Lakers’ offense. Ranked fifth in the country, Harvard has been playing much better of late by not letting opponents get into their offensive flow.

“I attribute this win to our defense,” junior tri-captain Julie Chu said. “They played tough and they had a lot of pressure from Mercyhurst. I think offense takes care of itself in a certain way, but defense—you need to be precise about it.”

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS

It’s safe to say the NCAA women’s hockey championship had not seen any game quite like Saturday’s matchup between the Crimson and the Lakers.

After the marathon affair, which, at close to 113 minutes set a record for longest-ever game in the tournament, a number of other NCAA and personal highs fell.