High-Scoring Crimson Beats Colgate to Secure Home Ice

Even for the high-scoring Harvard women’s hockey team, seven goals is a lot.

Playing with something to prove in its final regular season weekend, the Crimson rode to an easy 7-0 victory over Colgate on Friday at the Bright Hockey Center. In the process, Harvard (15-9-4, 14-4-3 ECAC) more than doubled the Raiders (11-17-3, 8-10-2) in shots on goal and capitalized on numerous power-plays.

Tri-captain and defender Leanna Coskren scored two goals for the Crimson in the first period of play, both during a 5-on-3 advantage, while sophomore goaltender Laura Bellamy recorded the shut-out at Bright Hockey Center on Friday night.

“What we’ve been focusing on is trying to come out really hard in the first period, which is the thing that we’ve lacked in some of our games,” Coskren said.

In the first frame, Colgate recorded five penalties in seven minutes. Harvard dominated the ice with clean passing, as their scoring rampage began in the tenth minute of play with a goal by freshman forward Kalley Armstrong.

Less than three minutes later, Coskren netted her first of two goals during a power-play, assisted by tri-captain and forward Kate Buesser and sophomore forward Jillian Dempsey.

Buesser followed up with a goal of her own at the 14:20 mark, and Coskren capped off the Crimson’s domination in the frame after tallying her second goal, thanks to another Dempsey feed.

But even after the scoring onslaught, Harvard coach Katey Stone was not satisfied.

“[I told them] it’s 0-0, we’ve got to keep getting better,” Stone said.

The Crimson began the second frame with tough defense led by two strong Bellamy saves, as the Raiders could not capitalize on any of their three power-play opportunities.

On the other hand, Harvard continued to dominate possession, giving Dempsey the chance to allow sophomore defender Josephine Pucci to send the puck flying over the left shoulder of Colgate goaltender Kimberly Sass halfway through the second period.

But, Dempsey wasn’t finished. With three minutes left on the clock, the sophomore fed the puck to freshman forward Lindsey Fry who buried the goal, putting the Crimson up six on the scoreless Raiders.

“It was the 5-on-3’s I think, and I happened to be the low kid down there in those goals,” said Dempsey about her ability to notch four assists. “I was getting some shots on net, and people were there to put [the puck] away.”

Entering the third period, Harvard continued its strong passing against Colgate, allowing sophomore forward Kaitlin Spurling to set up junior forward Alisa Baumgartner for the Crimson’s seventh and final goal at the 15:20 mark.

Harvard’s dominant performance was shown in the numbers, too, as the Crimson outshot the Raiders 34 to 16.

“We had everybody playing tonight, trying to keep kids fresh,” Stone said. “We’ve worked a little bit on our power play, worked on our penalty kill...and it seems to be working for us.”

After its tough 3-1 defeat to Boston College at the Beanpot, Harvard had this final weekend of the regular season to earn its six seniors a win before the ECAC playoffs.

“I think we’re just a lot more hungry now that it’s the end of the season,” Dempsey said. “This home weekend, it’s huge. We hate to see the seniors go, and so everybody is playing a little harder.”

Though the Crimson led the all-time series against Colgate, winning 17 of 20 matchups, its previous contest with the Raiders earlier in the season was much more of a struggle for Harvard. After being down 1-0 at the beginning of the game, the Crimson battled back to a 3-1 victory, with goals from Buesser, Armstrong, and Coskren.

“Last time we played Colgate we just barely won,” Dempsey said. “I think [our progress] shows on the scoreboard.”

The conference win puts Harvard at No. 2 in the ECAC going into the post-season tournament, granting the Crimson guaranteed home ice all the way to the semifinal round of play.

“It’s our ice, we know it inside and out,” Dempsey said, noting the importance of home ice during tournament play. “We’re out here everyday, so it’s going to be nice to really have some pride on the ice.”