CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard women's ice hockey will continue its ECAC schedule this weekend with a series against the No. 14 Yale Bulldogs and the No. 15 Brown Bears. The Crimson (1-2-0, 0-2-0 ECAC) will first welcome the Bulldogs (2-0-1, 1-0-1 ECAC) to the Bright-Landry Hockey Center before battling with the Bears (4-0-0, 2-0-0 ECAC) on Saturday. Both matchups are set for 3:00 PM and will air live on ESPN+.
 
The Crimson will play its first Ivy League contests of the season when it defends its home ice this weekend.
 

WHAT TO KNOW

Last Time Out             

• Harvard will look to bounce back after a pair of conference losses to Union and RPI last weekend.
• The Crimson defense continued to make strides, turning in two solid efforts last weekend. The penalty kill unit continued to perform, going 4-for-4 on the weekend and not allowing a single goal while Harvard was down a skater. The team also continued its trend of blocking shots, picking up 29 more blocks in the two-game series.
• Angelica Megdanis and Gwyn Lapp led the team in shots on goal in the series, recording 10 and seven, respectively.
• Goaltenders Emily Davidson and Ainsley Tuffy combined to make 52 saves in the two-game stretch. Tuffy made 31 of those saves in her collegiate debut in the Saturday matchup against RPI.

Scouting Yale

• Yale comes into the matchup with a 2-0-1 record and a 1-0-1 mark in conference play after defeating Princeton and tying Quinnipiac last weekend. The team jumped to No. 14 in the USCHO national rankings after the results.
• Harvard owns a 79-15-6 advantage over Yale in the all-time series dating back to the 1978-79 season.
• The Bulldogs own the nation's seventh-highest scoring offense with 4.33 goals per game through three games. On the other side of the ice, Yale has only allowed .67 goals per game, the lowest mark in the nation.
• Reigning ECAC goaltender of the week, Pia Dukaric, leads the effort between the pipes for Yale. Her .727 GAA is the best in the nation while her save percentage of .968 is good to second in the country.
• Three different skates have registered four points to lead the Bulldogs including Anna Bargman, Naomi Boucher and Anja Trummer.
• Five active Crimso student-athletes have posted points against Yale in their careers, led by Paige Lester who owns a pair of assists. Gwyn Lapp and Gabi Davidson Adams have recorded goals against the rival during their Crimson careers. 

Scouting Brown

• The Brown Bears are coming into the matchup red hot after sweeping a series against Princeton and Quinnipiac last weekend. The Bears were ranked No. 15 in the USCHO poll, marking the first time the program has cracked the top 15 since 2006. The team improved to 4-0 on the season after the sweep.
• Harvard leads the all-time series with Brown, 53-35-7 but is looking for its first win over the Ivy rival since the 2021-22 season.
• Brown displays a balanced offensive attack with nine skaters owning four or more points on the year. Cameron Sikich leads the way with six points off three goals and three assists.
• India McDadi currently ranks fourth in the NCAA with her assists per game total of 1.25. Ava DeCoste ranks in the top 10 nationally with her 1.5 points per game through the first four contests of the season for Brown.
• Nine active Crimson skaters come into the matchup with points against Brown, none more so than Mia Biotti who owns three career points against the Bears. Rose O'Connor, Paige Lester, Gwyn Lapp and Gabi Davidson Adams all have scored goals in their careers against the foe.

Clicking on the PK

• The Crimson has not allowed a powerplay goal to its opponents this season, going 8-for-8 on the penalty kill.
• Harvard is one of only two teams in the nation – the other being its Friday night opponent, Yale – that has not allowed a goal a skater-down this season.
• This is also the longest penalty killing streak for the program since the 2022-23 season.

Game-Winning Plays

• Harvard has already blocked 50 shots this season, giving the team an average of 16.6 blocked shots per game. That total is the best in the ECAC and ranks inside the top 10 nationally. 

From The Blueline

• All three of Harvard's offensive points against UConn came from the blue line as J. MacDonald picked up her third career goal with Biotti and Kaley MacDonald getting the assists.
• Crimson defenders accounted for 28-percent of the team's point production a year ago with Mia Biotti leading the charge with eight points in 2023-24.

Dominant on the Dot

• Gwyn Lapp has won 45 of the 70 faceoffs she has taken this season to give her a percentage of .643. That is tied for the seventh highest percentage in the NCAA among those with 50-plus faceoffs taken.
• As a team, Harvard has posted a faceoff winning percentage of 58.4 through three games. The percentage is the sixth highest in the nation.

Between the Pipes

• Junior goaltender, Emily Davidson, has performed to open the 2024-25 campaign. Davidson first earned a shutout win in the team's upset of No. 8 UConn making 34 saves before making 21 saves in a close loss to Union.
• Davidson is currently in the top 11 nationally with her .948 save percentage (7^th) and 1.50 goals against average (11^th).
• First-year goaltender Ainsley Tuffy also got her first taste of college action this weekend against RPI where she made 31 saves in another close loss. 

Up Next

Harvard will be back in its home barn this weekend to take on another pair of ECAC opponents. The Crimson will first take on the Princeton Tigers on Friday (Nov. 8) before playing host to the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Saturday (Nov. 9). Both games will be played at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center and will stream live on ESPN+.