No. 5 Harvard Returns to the Ice, Visits Princeton and Quinnipiac in ECAC Hockey Action

Pictured: Margaret Chute and the Crimson are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games, dating back to Nov. 7.
Photo courtesy: Gil Talbot Photography

Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Live Statistics at Princeton
Live Video at Princeton (with subscription)
Live Statistics at Quinnipiac
Live Video at Quinnipiac (with subscription)
ECAC Hockey Standings
Ivy League Standings
McDonald Scores for ECAC Hockey All-Stars in Exhibition Against Team USA
Botterill, Vaillancourt to Represent Team Canada at 2010 Olympics
Three Harvard Alumnae Named to U.S. Olympic Women's Hockey Team

The Particulars
After a month break, the fifth-ranked Harvard women’s hockey team returns to the ice with road games against Princeton and Quinnipiac. The Crimson is 6-0-2 in its last eight games and currently stands fifth in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 6-3-0 conference mark. Princeton is third in the conference with a 6-4-2 record, while Quinnipiac appears fourth with a 4-3-5 mark.

Follow From Home
GoCrimson.com will provide live statistics for this weekend’s games, all home games and most road contests this season. Live audio and video for Friday’s game at Princeton will be available at GoPrincetonTigers.com, while live audio and video for Saturday’s game at Quinnipiac can be found at QuinnipiacBobcats.com.

Series History
Harvard and Princeton have played 64 times, with the Crimson holding a slight, 34-28-2, advantage in the series. Harvard has won five of the last seven meetings between the ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rivals.

Harvard and Quinnipiac first met in 2005 and the Crimson has won all nine meetings between the schools entering Saturday afternoon’s game.

Earlier This Season vs. Princeton
On Nov. 14, 2009, Princeton emerged with a 2-1 overtime victory against Harvard at Bright Hockey Center. The Crimson trailed for much of the game, before Josephine Pucci tied it up, 1-1, with a goal with an extra attacker at 18:34 of the third period. In the extra session, Princeton’s Heather Landry netted an unassisted goal with only 31 seconds remaining in overtime, giving the Tigers the victory.

Earlier This Season vs. Quinnipiac
After a postponement on Nov. 13, the Crimson and Bobcats met on Nov. 15 at Bright Hockey Center. Harvard scored three goals in each of the first two periods en route to a 7-2 win. Jillian Dempsey lit the lamp twice, while Kate Buesser had a goal and three assists for a four-point effort and Leanna Coskren dished out two assists and scored a goal of her own in the winning effort.

Last Time Out
Kate Buesser and Kaitlin Spurling each tallied goals and Christina Kessler made 17 saves, as the Crimson extended its unbeaten streak to eight games (6-0-2) with a 2-1 victory over Connecticut Dec. 8 at Bright Hockey Center.

Shining All-Stars
Seniors Cori Bassett and Anna McDonald and junior Kate Buesser each earned a spot on the ECAC Hockey All-Star Team, which faced the U.S. Women’s Hockey National Team in an exhibition game Jan. 3. McDonald scored a goal, while Bassett and Buesser each had an assist.

The World’s Best
A trio of former Harvard standout skaters have been named to the 2010 U.S. Women’s National Team, which will compete at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Angela Ruggiero ’02-04, the Patty Kazmaier recipient in 2004, Julie Chu ’06-07, the winner of the Patty Kazmaier trophy in 2007, and former All-American Caitlin Cahow ’07-08 were named to the American team. On Team Canada, Harvard will be represented by two-time Patty Kazmaier Award winner Jennifer Botterill ’02-03, as well as Sarah Vaillancourt ’08-09, who was named the top women’s college hockey player in 2008.

Just Win, Christina!
Senior goaltender Christina Kessler is 63-16-5 (.780) in her career in net, placing her tied for first on Harvard’s all-time goalie wins list with Ali Boe ’06. Kessler currently owns the NCAA career record with a .942 save percentage, as she has stopped 1,815 of 1,926 shots faced during her career. Jessie Vetter (Wisconsin 2006-09) owned a .941 save percentage to set the record.

When The Game Is On The Line
Seven different Harvard players have scored a game-winning goal this season -- Kaitlin Spurling, Liza Ryabkina, Jillian Dempsey, Leanna Coskren, Anna McDonald, Cori Bassett and Kathryn Farni.

Representing Her Country
Goaltender Christina Kessler will compete with Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team at the 2010 MLP Cup, to be played Jan. 5-9 in Ravensburg, Germany.

A Stone Wall
The Crimson earned back-to-back shutouts against Minnesota Dec. 4-5, marking the first time that the Golden Gopher were held scoreless since Feb. 2, 2007. The Crimson had not recorded consecutive shutouts since holding Cornell without a goal during the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals Feb. 27-28, 2009.

A Balanced Attack
The Crimson has had 12 different players score at least one goal this year, as the team has netted a total of 34 goals. Fifteen players have at least one point to their credit and Harvard had 15 different players light the lamp last season as well, scoring a total of 95 goals.

License to Kill
The Crimson boasts the nation’s fourth-best penalty kill unit, stopping 49 of 54 opponent power plays (.907). Harvard successfully killed 26 of the last 29 power plays by opponents dating back to Nov. 15.

Around The Ivy League
The Crimson has earned three straight wins against Ivy League opponents after topping Dartmouth Nov. 25. The Crimson stands at 3-2 against Ancient Eight opponents, tied with Dartmouth and Princeton for second place. Cornell remains in first with a 4-0-1 Ivy League conference record.

Harvard Coach Katey Stone
Katey Stone is in her 16th season as the Landry Family Head Coach for Harvard Women’s Ice Hockey, and she brings a 327-139-24 record into Friday’s game. Stone, who ranks second all-time in Division I victories, has led Harvard to all seven of its NCAA tournament appearances. Stone is also the active leader in victories among Division I women’s hockey coaches.

Stone is currently 10 wins shy of tying the all-time Division I record, held by Laura Halldorson (337 victories).

First Thing’s First
The Crimson was 18-0-2 when scoring first and 1-10-1 when the opponent lit the lamp first last season. So far in 2009-10, Harvard is 6-1-1 when netting the game’s first goal and 2-2 when the opposition scores first.

It’s All Over
Harvard is 100-1-4 since the start of the 2004-05 season when leading after two periods.

Welcome To The Show
Freshman Kaitlin Spurling has recorded a point in seven of her first 13 games of her career (4-3-7). Classmate Jillian Dempsey has also had the scoring touch, notching six goals to tie her for the team lead with Kate Buesser. Dempsey also ranks second with 12 points, trailing Buesser (6-9-15).

Storied Program
With its 3-0 victory over St. Lawrence Nov. 7, Harvard earned the 500th victory in program history. The Crimson owns a 506-290-40 (.629)record over its storied 31-year history.

To Be The Best ...
With its 2-1 win against No. 10 Connecticut Dec. 8, the Crimson stands at 3-2-2 against ranked foes this year. Harvard was 2-6-1 against top 10 opponents last season.

Bright Spot
The Crimson was 9-4-2 record at Bright Hockey Center last season, while posting a 9-5-1 mark on the road. In eight games this season, Harvard owns a 5-2-2 record on home ice.

Red Lights
This season, Harvard ranks second in the nation in scoring defense (1.23 goals allowed per contest), fourth on the penalty kill (49 of 54, .907) and sixth in scoring margin (+1.38) The Crimson is also 13th in scoring offense (2.62 goals per game), 24th in combined special teams (57 of 119, .479) and 24th on the power play (8 of 65, .123).

Rank And File
Harvard is ranked fifth in the latest USCHO.com national poll and fifth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine national poll.

On The Road
The Crimson has played four road games this season, going 3-1. Harvard has won its last two on the road, topping Yale Nov. 20 and Brown Nov. 21. The Crimson has seven road games left in the reguar season, beginning with the contest at Princeton Jan. 8.

Crimson Among The Nation’s Best
With 0.92 points per game, Jillian Dempsey ranks sixth among the nation’s rookies in scoring. At the blue line, Josephine Pucci is tied for 11th among defenders with 0.64 points per game. Among all players, Kate Buesser stands 23rd with 1.15 points per game and is tied for 22nd with 0.69 assists per contest.

Stopping The Puck
Christina Kessler ranks third in the nation with a save percentage of .950 (303 of 319) and stands fourth with a 1.23 goals-against average. Kessler is also ninth in the nation with a winning percentage of .700 (8-3-2).

Clean Sheets
Harvard, which has earned four shutous this season against St. Lawrence Nov. 7, Yale No. 20, Minnesota Dec. 4-Dec. 5, registered six clean sheets last season, after establishing a new program record with 14 shutouts in 2007-08. Christina Kessler has recorded 25 shutouts during her career at at Harvard, a program record.