With a last-minute extra attacker goal and a last-second overtime goal, Harvard took home ice away from Clarkson with a 3-2 victory at Cheel Arena.
Clarkson (21-12-1, 12-8 ECACHL) now must to travel to Harvard (14-11-4, 10-6-4) for the ECACHL quarterfinals as the No. 5 seed. Clarkson would have been the No. 3 seed hosting Dartmouth had the tie score held. All three Harvard goals came with less than a minute left on the clock — one in the second period, one in the third period, and senior Jennifer Raimondi’s overtime game-winner. Raimondi also assisted on the other two Crimson goals.
With the play behind the net for most of the final 18 seconds following the game’s last faceoff, it appeared as if the game was safe for Clarkson and a first-round bus trip would be unnecessary, but the puck trickled out in front of the net where Raimondi was in perfect position to flick the puck into the top of the net for the game-winner for Harvard.
Another late-period goal helped the Crimson pull even with only 27 seconds left in the third period as defenseman Lindsay Weaver poked in her third goal of the season in a scrum in front of the net. Raimondi and Jenny Brine each assisted on the game-tying tally. It was the third extra attacker goal for Harvard this season. The Crimson accomplished the feat against both Clarkson and St. Lawrence in November, but only the goal against the Saints was enough to tie the game.
In a reversal of play from the previous day, the Golden Knights carried play in the opening period against Harvard. Clarkson recorded six shots on net in the first few minutes before the Crimson tallied its first attempt on goal. Clarkson’s tenacity was rewarded early in the period when sophomore Meghan Park scored her third goal of the season at 4:16. Ashley Shaidle sent a pass out from behind the bottom of the right circle to Park, who took her time and slid a shot into the corner of the net from near the blue line. Harvard goaltender Ali Boe appeared to be screened and did not stop the shot.
With a slashing penalty called on Boe with less than two minutes remaining in the first period, the Golden Knights scored a power-play marker with only 20 seconds left on the clock. Shaidle received a pass in the slot and poked the puck past the stick side of Boe to make it 2-0. Sophie Doyon and Brooke Beazer each earned assists. Clarkson closed the period with a 15-5 shot advantage.
The second period was full of long stretches of play without many chances on net as the two teams combined for just one pipe shot and one shot on goal in the first half of the period. It appeared as if the period would end without a score, but with only 17 seconds remaining the Crimson cut the Clarkson advantage to 2-1. After a deflection by a Clarkson defenseman, the puck bounded out to the left side where Harvard’s Liza Solley collected it and scored her ninth goal of the season from a near impossible angle.
Third-period play repeated that of the second for the first five minutes as neither team could muster a shot on net. Clarkson spent the middle 10 minutes of the frame with a solid shot advantage, including several near misses as Harvard goaltender Ali Boe came through with some point-blank stops. Clarkson goalie Kira Hurley finished with 14 saves, while Ali Boe came on strong in the final three frames to make 30 saves as Clarkson outshot the Crimson 32-17.
