CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard women's hockey will complete its longest road game stretch of the 2023-24 regular season this weekend with a trip to battle Princeton (Nov. 3) and Quinnipiac (Nov. 4). The Crimson is coming off two close 2-1 losses to Ivy League foes Yale and Brown and will look to turn a corner and pick up its first win of the regular season in the weekend series with the Tigers and Bobcats
 
The Crimson had two of its best outings of the season this past weekend, putting No. 7 Yale on the ropes after nearly sending the game to overtime in the final minutes. Against Brown, the Crimson threatened for a majority of the third period, but could not break through the 1-1 tie against the Bears. Gwyn Lapp and Gabi Davidson Adams each potted the goals against Yale and Brown, respectively, as the Crimson offense will now look to get back on track in this weekend's back-to-back against ranked teams.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION 

No. 15 Princeton entered the national polls two weeks ago after opening up its 2023-24 campaign with a weekend sweep of Robert Morris. The Tigers outscored RMU 10-2 in the two-game set and were slotted at No. 15 in the USCHO poll after the efforts. Princeton, led by Patty Kazmaier hopeful Sarah Fillier (5g, 2a), now sits at 3-3 on the year after dropping both its matchups with St. Lawrence and Clarkson last weekend. The Tigers let up seven goals to the Saints in game one before Clarkson stole a 1-0 victory in the second game.
 
Quinnipiac picked up where it left off in a year ago, opening the year with eight consecutive wins before falling in back-to-back matchups against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Quinnipiac swept Maine, UNH and Providence in non-conference play before defeating Brown and Yale two weeks ago. Sadie Peart (6g, 3a) and Maya Labad (4g, 5a) lead the squad with nine points each while goalie Logan Angers is quietly having a stellar season with her 1.51 GAA and .939 save percentage.

LAST TIME OUT

Harvard played two of its best games of the season against Yale and Brown last weekend, coming out on the wrong side of two close 2-1 results. The Crimson had the No. 7 Bulldogs on the ropes in the final minutes after scoring a powerplay goal to make the score 2-1. The team fought for the tying goal, but could not find the equalizer.
 
The defense continued its strong play against Brown, holding the Bears offense off for a majority of the first two periods. After Harvard took a one goal lead, the Bears battled back with a goal late in the frame before stealing the win with a goal in the third period.

POWERING THE POWERPLAY

After a tough start to the season, the Crimson powerplay unit has begun to produce results over the past three games, converting on three of its last ten man-advantages. Two of those tallies came in the matchup against RPI and the final came down the stretch in the contest at Yale. Gwyn Lapp scored the PPG against the Bulldogs - the first goal of her career - and Shannon Hollands and Maria Pape have also tallied goals on the powerplay this season.
 
The Crimson is ranked no. 13 in the nation with its .200 powerplay percentage which is also good for fifth in the ECAC.

BOOSAMRA STARTING STRONG

First-year forward, Zoe Boosamra, is off to an excellent start in her collegiate career, tallying assists in each of her first three games while playing on the first line. With her assist in the matchup with RPI, Boosamra became the first Crimson skater to tally a point in each of her first three collegiate games since Mary Parker  '17 in 2012-13.
 
The captain of Parker's team that year was none other than the new Landry Family Head Coach for Harvard Women's Ice Hockey, Laura Bellamy.
 
The Montreal, Quebec native currently leads all NCAA first-years with her .75 assits per game average. Boosamra also ranks 13th in the ECAC and 32nd in the nation with the total.
 

LEADING THE WAY

Veteran leaders, Shannon Hollands and Mia Biotti had a strong weekend against Union and RPI, combining for seven points in the matchups. Hollands scored goals in both contests and added the primary assist on Biotti's late game-tying goal against RPI which sent the game to overtime.
 
Both Biotti and Hollands scored a goal and had two assist agains the Engineers, marking the first time Harvard has had two skaters hit three points since the 2021-22 season.
 

A GAME OF FIRSTS

Sophie Ensley and Maria Pape both kept the pucks after scoring their first collegiate goals against RPI last weekend. Ensley, a sophomore forward, scored first and was followed by Pape, a first-year defender, who scored her goal on the powerplay.
 

CLUTCHING UP

Two of defensewoman, Mia Biotti's last three goals have come at clutch moments. First, Biotti scored with just 31 seconds left in last year's matchup against St. Lawrence (Dec. 3, 2022), to boost the Crimson to a 2-1 victory. It went down as the team's latest NON-OT game winner since at least 2009-10.
 
Then in the team's last matchup against RPI, Biotti tallied her first goal of the campaign with just over a minute left, tying the game and forcing overtime.
 

POINT LEADERS vs. PRINCETON/QUINNIPIAC

vs. PRINCETON
M. Biotti -  3p  -  0g   -  3a
S. Hollands -  2p  -  2g  -  0a
E. Winges - 2p - 0g - 2a
 
vs. QUINNIPIAC
S. Hollands -  1p  -  1g  -  0a
G. Davidson Adams -  1p  -  1g  -  0a
E. Bayard - 1p - 0g - 1a
 

NEW FACES BEHIND THE BENCH

Coach Bellamy got to work right away, hiring Meredith Roth as her associate head coach. Roth joins the program for the 2023-24 season after previously serving in the same role at the College of the Holy Cross. Bellamy also added Amy Zappen earlier this offseason, who will serve as the goaltending coach for the Crimson.
 
The Crimson also added its second assistant coach, Venla Hovi, to the program this week. Hovi comes to the Crimson after serving as the head coach of the Metropolitan Riveteres of the Premeir Hockey Federation last season.