Women's Hockey Prepares for Top-Ranked Boston College, Beanpot Semifinal

Queens of Boston. That is the title that four crosstown rival schools will be vying for in this month’s Beanpot Tournament. The 2016 rendition of the annual face-off between Harvard, Boston University, Boston College, and Northeastern is set to face off today at 5 p.m. at the Walter Brown Arena on BU’s campus.

The Crimson (12-8-1, 9-6-1 ECAC) has its first round matchup against the Eagles (27-0, 19-0 Hockey East), a team currently sitting atop the national rankings. The two teams have history coming into the game, with Harvard having beat BC in last year’s Beanpot to take home the championship trophy for the 14th time in program history.

“The Beanpot is huge,” senior forward Miye D’Oench said. “BC is a big rival and obviously we want to come away with the win. We won it last year and it’s an incredible tournament. There’s so much history and it’s so fun. “

The stage for the 2014-2015 faceoff strikes similarity to this season’s matchup in the fact that the Eagles enter the games ranked first in the country with an undefeated record. Last year, the Crimson was able to edge BC, 3-2, taking the trophy on home ice.

This year, however, the road to the Beanpot has been different for Harvard, entering the game ranked tenth in the nation as opposed to the No. 4 ranking it earned last year at this time.

The Crimson has also seen some difficult losses leading up to tonight’s matchup, narrowly maintaining a .500 record since returning to the ice after the break. Harvard has not been able to come up with a win against a team ranked in the top five since mid-November, making this face-off against the Eagles even more important in establishing the team’s presence in the field going toward the playoffs.

“They’re all big,” said Harvard head coach Katey Stone after Saturday’s victory against Princeton. “Every game is the biggest game of our season and that’s how we approach it. We know that we’re in a situation where we need to scratch and claw our way up the ladder.”

The win against the Tigers on Saturday night brought much-needed momentum to the team after struggling down the stretch in January. The Crimson’s offense came alive early in the game and stayed consistent throughout, ending with four goals after 60 minutes of play.

Minimizing turnovers and killing power plays were key in the team’s most recent win and will continue to be a strong indicator of success. Against Princeton, Harvard was able to kill all four of its opponent’s power play opportunities, including a six-on-four situation at the end of the third period.

The ability to score early in the contest can set the tone in the game, as the Crimson is 9-3 in match-ups in which the team scores in the opening period.

“There’s a lot of things we have to work on [going into Tuesday’s game],” Stone said. “It’s taking care of the puck, personal responsibility and accountability… getting pucks to the net and still playing great defense.”

This is the second time this season that Harvard will match up against BC. The two teams faced off on Jan. 19 in a game that saw the Eagles come away with the 2-0 shutout victory.

Tonight’s contest will have many similar elements to the previous, including the match-up of two of the top goalies in the nation. Crimson netminder Emerance Maschmeyer enters the game with 486 saves on the season through 16 games, while BC goalie Katie Burt is 20-0 with 439. Currently Maschmeyer sits .001 percentage points ahead of Burt in save percentage, while Burt come into the game with less goals allowed in her ice time, 23, to Maschmeyer’s 25.

With the final stretch of the season ahead for both teams, the Beanpot has the ability to set the tone for what is to come in the closing weeks.

“It’s getting to be February and every single win is going to be huge in the end,” D’Oench said. “The trick is taking it one game at a time and focusing on the next opponent and right now it’s BC so that is who we are focusing on now.”

—Staff writer Ariel Smolik-Valles can be reached at asmolikvalles@college.harvard.edu.