MINNEAPOLIS — Crosstown rivals Harvard and Boston College traveled to the Midwest to play a rubber match of their season series, where the Crimson took both the game and the series by 2-1 margins.
After 46:34 of scoreless hockey Friday night, senior captain Kalley Armstrong opened the scoring with a bad-angle shot from the right wing that found the net.
“I just tried to throw some junk on the net, pretty much,” Armstrong said. “I wasn’t meaning at all to have a dangerous shot. I was kind of hoping to give her a hard toss and go for the rebound. I had no idea it went in.”
The eventual game-winner was potted by Mary Parker six minutes and change later, to put the Crimson ahead 2-0 with seven minutes left, although it was initially waved off.
“Mary came straight to the bench and told us what happened,” Armstrong said. “We were hoping for the bounce to go our way and we were all standing on the bench saying, ‘Come on, let’s go, give it to us!'”
Looking only at the aggregate of 13 goals for the Eagles to seven for Harvard (27-5-3) over their three meetings, one wouldn’t know that the Crimson wound up on the better end of the bargain, especially on the big stage of the Frozen Four.
Anyone interviewing either BC (34-3-2) or Harvard invariably asked about the 10-2 thrashing the Eagles administered back in November.
“Sometimes you have to go through those things to expose your weaknesses and we worked a lot harder after that,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said.
The Crimson certainly worked hard in the semifinal, a game where things didn’t always seem to be heading in their favor.
Kristyn Capizzano appeared to give the Eagles an early lead just a minute into the game, but the goal was disallowed upon review.
“Our kids were a little bummed,” BC coach Katie King Crowley said. “I don’t think Kristyn thought she kicked it in, so we thought it was going to be a goal.”
Later in the opening frame, Miye D’Oench, Harvard’s second-leading scorer, was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for a check from behind.
At that point, it seemed like the Eagles might break the game open, but it didn’t happen.
“We ran into a goalie that made some really nice saves on us and we knew that was going to happen,” Crowley said. “I thought our kids stuck to it and worked extremely hard and just came up short. Those are the games you hope you get a bounce your way and it didn’t seem to happen for us tonight.”
Harvard’s Emerance Maschmeyer came up with 43 saves on the night, including nine times while her team was on the penalty kill.
“I think we play great team defense and it starts in the net and goes all the way out,” Stone said.
After a dream season that set new a new program high with 34 wins, BC kept fighting and eventually pulled within one when Emily Field collected a rebound off the boards and finally got a puck past Maschmeyer with 4:23 remaining.
“To score a goal that late is tough,” Field said. “I wish it had come sooner, but I think our team’s sprits definitely picked up a little bit.”
BC pulled Katie Burt for an extra attacker for the final 88 seconds, but Maschmeyer and her defense denied all attempts.
“I’m extremely proud of the season that our team had, what our players have done for our program, and where they’ve brought our program,” Crowley said.
Harvard heads into the final Sunday and a rematch of the 2004 and 2005 NCAA championship games versus Minnesota.
“We’ve been preparing for this all season,” Armstrong said. “We’re not going to change anything. We’re going to stick to our routine and stay consistent. It’s going to be a dogfight.”
