Senior forward Liza Ryabkina, shown here in earlier action, and the rest of the Harvard women’s hockey team face off against No. 6 Boston College this Sunday. The Crimson beat the Eagles, 5-0, a year ago.

In last year’s match against Boston College, the then-No. 6 Harvard women’s hockey team cruised to an easy 5-0 victory over the unranked Eagles.

But this year, the tables have turned. No. 6 Boston College (10-2-4, 6-1-2 Hockey East) comes in as the favorite against the unranked Crimson (4-4-2, 4-2-2 ECAC), as the two Boston teams face off Sunday afternoon at the Eagles’ Conte Forum.

“BC has a really strong team,” tri-captain Kate Buesser said. “It’s going to be a challenge.”

After a rough 2009-10 campaign, Boston College has emerged as one of the best teams in the country. Part of the Eagles’ resurgence can be attributed to the return of a powerful senior duo: forward Kelli Stack and goaltender Molly Schaus. Last year, the pair shed the maroon and gold in favor of red, white, and blue, as they played for the U.S. Olympic Team in the Vancouver Games.

Back in college, the two now form perhaps the best forward-goaltender combination in the nation.

“Both [Stack] and [Schaus] coming back from the Olympics has been great for us,” said Boston College coach Katie King. “They’re leaders on and off the ice for the team.”

Stack leads the nation in goals and was Hockey East’s Player of the Month for November, tallying 13 points in just eight games.

“[Stack is] an excellent goal scorer,” Busser said. “Clearly, it’s going to be a challenge in the defensive zone to shut her down.”

Schaus is also among the elite at her position. Her .941 save percentage is the fifth-highest mark in Division I.

“Schaus is at the top of her game,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “There’s no question about it.”

The former Olympian is not the first top-notch goalkeeper that the Crimson will face. In a two-game series last weekend, Harvard squared off against another top collegiate stopper, Minnesota’s Noora Räty. The Crimson was able to muster only two goals against the Golden Gophers.

Harvard may have an even tougher test in Schaus.

“We’re going to have to put a lot of shots on her and see [what] we can do,” Stone said. “It’s going to be a great challenge for us.”

Even without the Eagles’ Olympic tandem, the Crimson has problems of its own. Harvard has successfully killed only 67.4 percent of penalties, worst in the nation. Of the seven goals that the Crimson allowed in the series with Minnesota, four came on Golden Gopher power plays.

“It’s a little frustrating,” sophomore forward Jillian Dempsey said. “On penalty kills, we’re working hard, and the puck’s just not bouncing…the way that we would like.”