{shortcode-87dfd877cd2e38360baa17b984aa9fa9aa7c7fc6}

UPDATED: February 2, 2016, at 11:15 p.m.

BOSTON—It was a first period to forget for the Harvard women’s hockey team. Facing the potent offense of the top-ranked Boston College Eagles, it took just over four minutes for the Crimson to find itself down on the scoreboard. It was the beginning of a slippery slope for Harvard.

Just over a minute later, the BC lead had doubled, and three minutes later, the Crimson was down 3-0. When the horn went off to mark the end of the first frame, the No. 1/1 Eagles had already put two more past co-captain Emerance Maschmeyer to put Harvard in a 5-0 hole, paving the way for an 8-0 BC win in the Beanpot semifinals. For the Crimson, Tuesday marked the team's second loss to the Eagles this year after Harvard fell, 2-0, at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center on Jan. 19.

“We weren’t ready, and they were," co-captain Michelle Picard said. "And they took it to us."

Coming into the game as the reigning Beanpot champions, the Crimson (12-9-1, 9-6-1 ECAC) looked like anything but a contender as the team fell flat early on.

The high-flying BC attack got off to a quick start, as sophomore forward Tori Sullivan opened up the scoring for the Eagles (28-0-0, 19-0-0 Hockey East) with a shot from just outside the crease at 4:17. Senior blue-liner Kaliya Johnson extended the BC lead at the 5:40 mark, firing a shot from the point into the mesh for a 2-0 lead.

Things went from bad to worse for Maschmeyer and the Crimson as sophomore Toni Ann Miano scored the third goal for BC at the 8:09 mark with a rocket from the slot. Eight minutes later, defender Megan Keller joined the scoring party after Maschmeyer failed to corral the puck right outside the crease, allowing the sophomore to score. Captain Alex Carpenter scored the fifth and final goal of the period for the Eagles with just over a minute left.

The five goals allowed set a single-period season high for Harvard, who had previously allowed a high of three, and the tallies in the first frame alone tied the mark for the most goals the Crimson has allowed in a game all season. It was a particularly shaky frame on the stat sheet for Maschmeyer—who was pulled for junior netminder Brianna Laing at the start of the second frame—as the five goals tied a season-high in goals allowed for the Team Canada representative and put her below .500 on the season.

Though the Bruderheim, Alberta, native struggled, Harvard coach Katey Stone reaffirmed her confidence in the co-captain, whose defense was picked apart by the BC attack all night.

“[Maschmeyer] has been unbelievable for us all year,” Stone said. “There was no way I was going to pull her during the period because I don’t feel she deserved that by any means. A lot of those goals were not her fault…. It had nothing to do with Masch other than to make a very respectful decision in my opinion.”

The Harvard attack was practically nonexistent all night as the Crimson failed to seriously challenge BC goaltender Katie Burt. Harvard managed a mere 12 shots on goal, a season low, including only three shots in the second frame.

Constant pressure on the puck by the Eagles prevented the Crimson from establishing rhythm on the offensive end, as Harvard failed to control possession, was forced into turnovers, and was held within its own defensive zone for much of the game.

“They put so much pressure on us that we really didn’t have an opportunity for a lot of offense today,” Stone said. “Frankly, our coverage on the defensive end [had] consistent flaws…. Today right off the bat we made many mistakes.”

While Laing was able to withstand the barrage of shots BC sent her way early on, it did not take long for the Eagles to break through. Senior Lexi Bender found the back of the net from just outside the crease exactly five minutes into the period to give her side a 6-0 lead. Keller added her second tally of the match from just outside the left faceoff circle three minutes later, and Carpenter added the finishing touches in the final period, scoring her second of the game and 34th of the season to cap the 8-0 finish. Laing finished with 26 saves.

The eight goals marked the most allowed by the Crimson since BC scored 10 times against Harvard on Nov. 28, 2014.

On the other end, Burt picked up her tenth shutout of the season—and second over Harvard—as the Eagles earned further revenge over the Crimson after losing in the NCAA semifinals and Beanpot final last season to Harvard.

While the loss stings for the Crimson, the team will have to quickly move past it. With games coming up against Yale and Brown this weekend along with the Beanpot consolation game next Tuesday, Harvard will need to bounce back strong as the team continues its playoff hunt.

“We’ve got to learn from it,” Picard said. “We’ve got to see what we did wrong but also know that wasn’t us out there…. This is going to hurt for a while, but Friday we’ve got to get back at it, and that’s all you can do as an athlete. It stings and it hurts, but we’ve got a job to do on Friday night, and we’ll be ready to go”

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