HARVARD 2, QUINNIPIAC 2
Harvard entered the final frame of regulation trailing the Bobcats by a goal. But the Crimson erased this late-game deficit thanks to freshman forward Kat Hughes, who buried her third score of the season on the man advantage with four minutes remaining. Junior forward Lexie Laing and senior defenseman Abbey Frazer notched assists on the power play equalizer.
“Coming back in the third period was huge,” Ziadie said. “Being able to take advantage of the power play—the opportunity to have them—is really important.”
Quinnipiac made Harvard pay for its two first period penalties and opened the scoring on freshman defenseman Kate MacKenzie’s power play strike. Having cashed in with the extra man, the Bobcats entered the intermission with a one-goal lead and a 12-2 advantage in shots on goal.
The second period saw even strength goals from both teams, including an opening minute score from Crimson co-captain Sydney Daniels, who found the back of the net from outside the right faceoff circle. Mere minutes later, Quinnipiac responded with a snipe of its own, regaining the lead—one which it would hold until Hughes’ clutch tally in the final minutes.
“In any game…it’s about bouncing right back and bringing the pressure to the other team,” Ziadie said, emphasizing that importance of “having that mentality to go back and get another [goal].”
In the middle period of Friday night’s game, Ziadie and her teammates were victims of that approach.
Overtime began with a flurry of Bobcat shots, all of which Harvard’s freshman netminder Beth Larcom, in only her second career start, deflected to safety. The extra time frame ended much the same way it started, but this time Crimson co-captain Briana Mastel took goaltending matters into her own hands, blocking two crucial shots during Quinnipiac’s final possession in its offensive zone. Larcom came to the rescue during a last-minute penalty shot attempt for Quinnipiac, which she stuffed at the doorstep after some nifty stick work from Bobcats freshman Kenzie Prater.
“[The penalty shot] was really exciting for Beth [Larcom]. She did a great job,” said Ziadie, applauding the work of her rookie netminder. “Again, we hope those situations don’t happen, but when they do, we know that our goalies are prepared for them.”
Although significantly outshot, 29-18, Harvard held its own against the Bobcats in faceoff wins, with the hosts holding just a two-win edge, and remained equally as disciplined, with each team taking three penalties on the night.
The Crimson boasts an all-time record of 18-5-3 against Quinnipiac, but recently the Bobcats have matched up relatively evenly with Harvard, as eight of the past nine meetings have been decided by one goal or less. The Crimson owns a 4-3-2 record over that span.
Additionally, with the overtime finish on Friday evening, Harvard has seen six of its past nine games require extra time, marking the only such stretch of overtime thrillers in program history.
On the weekend, freshman forward Val Turgeon led all Crimson scorers with a pair of helpers while contributing seven shots to Harvard’s total on Saturday. For the orange and black, sophomore forward Karlie Lund, reigning ECAC Rookie of the Year and First-Team conference selection, padded her lead in conference-wide point scoring (16-15-31) with a goal and an assist in Saturday’s match.
— Staff writer Spencer R. Morris can be reached at spencer.morris@thecrimson.com.