{shortcode-122d9f719ef5e068c022edfcb84d5bfc2b029f07}

In what could end up being a season-defining slate of games, the Harvard women’s ice hockey team will welcome ECAC leaders No.4/4 Quinnipiac and No.9/9 Princeton to the Bright-Landry Hockey Center this weekend, looking to reassert itself as one of the dominant teams in the ECAC and the nation.

The Crimson (11-7-1, 8-5-1 ECAC), currently located fifth in the conference, are currently six and two points behind the Bobcats (20-1-4, 10-1-3) and Tigers (16-4-1, 9-4-1), respectively. Sweeping the two teams would be a huge boost for a Harvard team that has struggled to find momentum recently and is currently outside the projected playoff field.

“This weekend is about proving to Quinnipiac and Princeton that we can beat them,” sophomore defender Chelsea Ziadie said. “It’s about proving to ourselves that we can beat anyone, no matter who our opponent is.”

The Crimson will face a tough task from its first game, as the team looks to hand a potent Quinnipiac squad only its second loss this season. Since dropping a 4-3 decision to Yale on Halloween, the Bobcats have rattled off 18 consecutive games without a loss—including a 2-1 overtime victory over Harvard at home.

A Crimson defense that has been shaky in front of goal will be tested with a dangerous goal-scorer in the shape of Bobcat forward Taylar Cianfrano, who is currently ranked fourth in goals in the nation with 22 tallies in 24 games.

Quinnipiac is also dangerous on the penalty—an area Harvard has struggled on this season—with the nation’s fourth highest power play conversion rate at 25 percent.

While the Crimson backline will face one of its toughest challenges this season, the team will head into the match with some much needed confidence and momentum after shutting out and breaking a three game losing streak against Dartmouth last weekend thanks to 23 saves from captain Emerance Maschmeyer.

“It’s huge,” senior forward Miye D’Oench said. “It’s never easy to break a losing streak. For Emerance to get the shutout and for the team to get the shutout, that was also a really big thing last weekend.”

On the other end, D’Oench will lead a Harvard front line that is averaging over two goals a game against one of the best defenses in the nation.

The Bobcat defense—which allows a mere average of 0.92 goals per game, second best in the nation—is led by junior netminder Sydney Rossman, who is ranked top-five in all major goaltending statistics and will likely be locked in a goaltending battle all night with her Crimson counterpart Maschmeyer.

In the latter half of the weekend, Harvard will face off against a Princeton team that has won eleven games in a row and is currently in the midst of a playoff hunt of its own.

For the second night in a row, Maschmeyer is likely to find herself in a battle with her counterpart, as Harvard will attempt to find the net against Tiger goalkeeper Kimberly Newell. The senior is currently tied with Maschmeyer in save percentage with a .947 save percentage—third best in the nation.

After losing tight road games to both teams earlier this year—dropping both results in overtime by a margin of 2-1—Harvard will need to run on all cylinders and minimize potential mistakes.

While miscues such as turnovers and penalties disrupted the Crimson’s play, the work put in by the team leading up to this week will go a long way in helping out Harvard’s chances of victory.

“We worked on a lot of support on the [defensive] zone,” Ziadie said. “Playing smart, playing hard, and doing the little things right. Just basic things that make a huge difference in the long run.”

Though the prospect of claiming victories against its conference foes is a daunting one, the Crimson will look to take advantage of these adjustments and its previous experience against the two teams to gain an upper hand at home and flip the script.

“We have a taste of what’s coming,” D’Oench said. “We know they’re going to give us their best and that’s going to be pretty good, we just have to be better… It’s nothing we haven’t seen before.”

—Staff writer Julio Fierro can be reached at julio.fierro@thecrimson.com.­