Last season, Harvard won its first four meetings ever against ECACHL newcomer Clarkson by a combined 17-1 margin. But last season is last season.
Thanks in part to a three-goal outburst in the first period, the Golden Knights (8-2-1. 3-0 ECACHL) topped No. 5 Harvard by a 4-3 margin. The Crimson (3-1, 2-1) mounted a late rally from a 4-1 deficit in the third period but came up short in the comeback attempt.
“We took a while to get it going today and got behind early,” said Harvard coach Katey Stone. “Clarkson controlled the middle of the game.”
Key to Clarkson’s victory was limiting Harvard to just one power play goal. The Golden Knights did this best by staying out of the box – they took just two penalties all game. Clarkson has taken the fewest penalties per game in the nation this season and now has a seven-game unbeaten streak.
Freshman Sarah Wilson led Harvard with two goals, while senior Jennifer Raimondi led all scorers with a goal and two assists. Clarkson had a balanced attack with no one player recording two points.
Clarkson’s Ashley Shaidle scored the first goal of the game at 5:30 in the first period. Like Harvard’s win over Princeton last week, the Crimson answered almost immediately. This time Wilson scored at 6:51 with assists from freshman Kati Vaughn and Raimondi. But Harvard could not maintain the momentum this time around.
Clarkson scored the next three goals of the game, upping the score to 4-1 by the second period. Micheleen Devine scored at 9:24 of the first period unassisted. Melissa Marshall tacked on another goal at 12:53, assisted by Emma Madigan. Sophie Doyon scored the eventual game-winner, a power-play goal, at 13:10 in the second period.
Clarkson dominated the second period with a 13-4 shot advantage. Again, penalties were critically important. Harvard took four, while Clarkson took none.
Wilson scored the Crimson’s lone power-play goal at 11:26 of the third period to start the Harvard comeback. Raimondi scored at 19:20 in the third period after Harvard pulled its goaltender for an extra skater, but the Crimson was unable to get the equalizer.
Kira Hurley had 20 saves for Clarkson. Senior goaltender Ali Boe played 58:51 of the game and made 25 saves.
“Boe made some big saves for us today, keeping us in the game. She just took some bad bounces,” said Stone.
The Crimson will next hit the ice tomorrow at 2 p.m. against No. 1 St. Lawrence at Bright Hockey Center. Clarkson looks to establish itself as a top 10 team with another strong result against No. 8 Dartmouth.
