Tough Stretch Up Front Will Prime Crimson For Success

A 10-2 loss is always a tough pill to swallow, especially for the Harvard women’s hockey team.

Yes, the Crimson (6-2-2, 5-1-1 ECAC) was playing against No. 1 Boston College, but most would have expected Harvard—a preseason favorite to win the national title—to put up more of a fight against the best team in the country. Loaded with talent across the ice, the team entered its 2014-2015 campaign with a No. 3/4 national ranking. But just over a month into its season, the Crimson was forced to swallow its worst loss in almost two decades.

“We’ve taken our lumps a little bit,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said upon the team’s return to home ice on Dec. 2.

A tough road schedule in November saw Harvard steadily slide down the national rankings. The Crimson went 1-2-2 in a four week-long break from home ice, dropping a 5-4 decision to unranked St. Lawrence while squeezing out ties against two top-10 programs in Clarkson and Boston University. It was a difficult schedule to start out the year, and by the end of the month, the Crimson had compiled its worst record to start the season in roughly five years.

A few lumps, perhaps. And yet, though it may not have the record to show it, the Crimson is not far off from reaching its full potential.

There have been quite a few glimpses of it already this season. And perhaps more importantly, the team has shown grit when the going’s gotten tough.

Harvard bounced back the evening following its BC blowout to take down Northeastern, 4-3, after trailing the Huskies by two goals in the first frame. Then, in its much-welcomed return to the Bright-Landry Hockey Center a few nights later on Dec. 2, the Crimson topped Dartmouth, 4-1, for its first Ivy win of the season.

“We’re building our confidence,” Stone said after the squad’s win over the Big Green. “Things are getting better.”

Harvard showed signs of its peak form this past weekend, upending then-undefeated No. 4/4 Quinnipiac with a clutch third-period score to secure the 2-1 victory. With the win, Harvard vaulted back up the national rankings, climbing as high as fifth in the PairWise Rankings.

The growing pains seen earlier this season can easily be attributed to the adjustment that comes with the bevy of talent that Harvard boasts on its current roster. “Weapons all over the place” is how Stone describes it.

There’s the Olympians returning to the roster, adding on to a squad that had already grown and matured under associate head coach Maura Crowell in Stone’s absence. The incoming freshman class—one of the most talented and decorated in recent memory—adds to the Crimson’s arsenal on the ice. And ECAC Goaltender of the Year, junior Emerance Maschmeyer—fresh off a season in which she recorded the fourth-best save percentage in the nation—has returned to split time between the pipes alongside sophomore Brianna Laing, who boasted a .974 save percentage in her freshman campaign.

Stone has plenty of puzzle pieces to work with as she jockeys ice time amongst the talented squad.

It could be easy to discount the Crimson after the team’s early season struggles. And it’s still far too early in the year to say for sure whether this team is national championship material. But if anything, the team’s early adversities should bolster the Crimson as it heads into winter, facing the meaty part of its packed Ivy and ECAC schedule.

Here’s to seeing if the puzzle pieces end up fitting just right.

—Staff writer Brenna R. Nelsen can be reached at brenna.nelsen@thecrimson.com.