Kessler Shines on International Stage

Senior goalie Christina Kessler of the Harvard women’s hockey team took another tour on the international circuit last week, backstopping the Canadian U-22 squad to a gold medal at the MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany.

Kessler blanked Switzerland in a 9-0 win in the gold-medal game—the netminder’s fourth shutout with the U-22 team, tying a Canadian record.

The senior was the winner in net in both Canada’s 4-1 preliminary win over Switzerland and a 4-3 overtime nailbiter against Sweden—the defending MLP champions—in the semifinals.

It was the third international appearance for the goaltender, who was part of Canada’s silver-medal squad at the MLP Cup last year and also played in a 2008 series against the American U-22 team.

Though Kessler’s trip overseas yielded a great deal of success, her Crimson teammates stumbled in her absence. Harvard tied Princeton, 3-3, on Friday before losing to Quinnipiac, 1-0, on Saturday despite holding a 22-shot advantage in the contest.

Rookie Laura Bellamy got her first two starts in net for the Crimson, recording a combined 21 saves over the weekend.

Harvard slipped to No. 6 in the national polls this morning, but the team has a chance to rebound against Cornell, which slipped out of the rankings today for the first time since early November, at home on Friday.