After starting each of the Crimson’s five postseason games, freshman goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer led the Harvard women’s hockey team to the precipice of both ECAC and national titles.

“She just doesn’t have a nerve in her body,” said co-captain and fellow goaltender Laura Bellamy. “She lives for that kind of stuff.”

Coming into the season, Maschmeyer had an impressive pedigree. In high school, the goalkeeper spearheaded a campaign that resulted in an IIHF gold medal for the U18 Canadian team. Yet Maschmeyer did not earn the Harvard women’s hockey starting goaltending position before the season started.

“They weren’t guaranteed the net,” said co-captain Jillian Dempsey of Maschmeyer and Bellamy.  “[It fostered] a great sense of competition.”

From the beginning, Maschmeyer found herself in a competition with Bellamy, who was established as the squad’s starter in the middle of her freshman year.

“The competition only made them better,” junior forward Lyndsey Fry said. “It just pushed them both to become better goalies.”

Bellamy was a finalist for last year’s ECAC Student Athlete of the Year award.

“She is such a hard worker,” Maschmeyer said of Bellamy. “I know I can rely on her for anything both on and off the ice.”