No. 3 W. Hockey Keeps Winning

Coaches and players agree, the Harvard women’s hockey team played its best game all season last night, rolling over No. 7 New Hampshire 4-0. The victory extends Harvard’s best start in program history. Never before has Harvard won its first 11 games.

“We made good team plays and shut them down,” said coach Katey Stone.

The Crimson (11-0-0, 4-0-0 ECAC) made it look easy, holding UNH (7-5-2, 3-0-1 WHE) to only six shots on goal as a swarming Harvard defense, led by co-captain Angela Ruggiero, never gave the Wildcats a chance to make the game close.

“They’re just a quick team,” said UNH head coach Brian McCloskey. “You’re not going to get a lot of chances against them.”

The shutout was the Crimson’s sixth this season, and it was not a struggle. The Harvard defenders were able to fly around the ice without playing much down-low defense.

Ruggiero—whose effort Stone called “tremendous”—repeatedly saved the puck from trouble, foiling one of the strongest offenses in the Women’s Hockey East Conference.

“She just picked her spots,” Stone said. “She managed the game so well. It’s fun to watch her.”

Ruggiero was proud of the team’s defensive hustle.

“We were trying out the two-three-four check, with two [Harvard defenders] down low and three [Harvard wingers] up high, and for that to be effective you have to go on all cylinders,” she said. “We were all going 100 percent. It felt good.”

Sophomore Ali Boe stopped all six shots that came her way to earn her seventh win and fifth shutout on the season.

“We didn’t get a lot of rubber on her,” McCloskey said. “There was lots of traffic in front of her and some bounces in front as the game went on. I thought we were getting some better chances, but she never looked to me like she was out of position.”

Boe has allowed only two goals in her seven games this season, posting an outstanding goals against average of 0.29.

The offense did its part as well, with co-captain Lauren McAuliffe leading the way with the game’s first and deciding goal off a rebound at 13:16 in the first period.

Ruggiero emerged from the penalty box just in time to intercept a pass and shoot a slapshot off Wildcats goalie Melissa Bourdon. McAuliffe skated in from the other side, collected a bounce off freshman winger Jennifer Sifers, and flipped it into the net.

That was all Harvard would need, but the offense did not stop there. Sophomore Julie Chu, Ruggiero, and freshman Katie Johnston all added goals, as nine Crimson skaters contributed to the scoring effort.

Stone said stretching the limits of the roster would benefit the team in the immediate future.

“We’ve been playing lots of players,” Stone said. “It’s good experience, good conditioning.”

Harvard will need all the preparation it can get as it heads west at the end of the week to face No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth for a Friday-Saturday doubleheader.

“We’re ready,” Stone said. “We’ve had a pretty competitive schedule up to this point. Now it’s time to ratchet it up a little bit.”

But for now, Ruggiero said the Crimson will be able to enjoy winning its third game against a top ten opponent and its second against New Hampshire.

“It’s great to be challenged,” she said. “And it’s great to step up to that challenge.”

Harvard’s two games against Minnesota-Duluth will present a rematch of last year’s national championship bout, as well as the Crimson’s biggest challenge of the year.

The Bulldogs topped the Crimson 4-3 in last year’s championship game.