Photo courtesy: Quinnipiac Athletics
Three games played, two into overtime, each eventually ending in a 2-1 loss for the Bobcats.
The Quinnipiac women’s hockey team will take on Harvard for the fourth time this season on Saturday – this time fighting to get to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament.
This game marks Quinnipiac’s first NCAA berth, with puck drop at Harvard’s home ice at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. In 21 all time matchups with the Crimson, the Bobcats have only won twice.
Quinnipiac last faced Harvard just one week ago in the ECAC tournament semifinals. Emma Woods scored early in the first period for QU but that would be the only puck to get past Harvard goalie Emerance Maschmeyer all game.
The Crimson tied the match up late in the third stanza leading to overtime. Miye D’Oench netted the game-winning goal for Harvard.
“It wasn’t easy, and we played a very good Quinnipiac team with a strong goaltender” Harvard Head Coach Katey Stone said after the game.
These two teams have gotten to know each other well and are closely matched. The Bobcats came in at number six in this week’s USCHO.com poll while the Crimson ranked just above at number four.
This season has been one of the best for the Quinnipiac program as a whole. Head coach Rick Seeley’s s squad posted a program best 24-7-3 overall record and 15-5-2 record in conference. In addition senior goalie Chelsea Laden broke the ECAC single-season shutout record.
In order to beat Harvard though, Quinnipiac needs to score. By the numbers the Bobcats are strong, they have nearly doubled the shot totals of their opponents this season. Woods, Nicole Brown, and Taryn Baumgardt have all chipped in for Quinnipiac with goals and assists, and need to show up against Harvard in order to get the win.
In all three games against Harvard this season, Quinnipiac has been the first to score, but then the Crimson take over.
For Harvard the key to a win will be using its strong defense to ward off the Quinnipiac attack. It’s likely the match up will be close so the Crimson need to stay calm and put shots in past Laden as they have been doing all season.
The Bobcats have had extremely low penalty minutes the whole season, so a power play isn’t all too likely for the Crimson. Harvard has had a strong 2015, only recording three losses and one tie in 23 games. Also the Crimson has gone 14-1-1 on home ice.
The winner of this game will play the winner of the Clarkson and Boston College match up in the semifinals. Puck drop for Quinnipiac and Harvard is 4 p.m. on Mar. 14.
