CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard women's ice hockey turned in another strong effort against a nationally ranked opponent on Saturday afternoon, falling to No. 9 Colgate, 5-0, at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. The Crimson (2-2-0, 0-2-0 ECAC) generated 35 shots on goal and battled until the final horn against the Raiders (4-4-0, 1-1-0 ECAC), who took the win to close out the opening weekend of ECAC play.

"There's a lot of good takeaways in terms of how we played tonight," said Laura Bellamy, the Landry Family Head Coach for Harvard Women's Ice Hockey. "Our effort all the way through was strong, and we put a full 60-minute game together. We're young and have a lot of inexperience, so we need to learn fast and we learned that this weekend. It was a great test to play two good teams, but the biggest thing for us is realizing that it starts in our own end. The quality of chances we're giving up right now, good teams are going to capitalize on. That's where we'll focus to get better, and that will help our game all over the ice. It's good for us to learn those things early so we can compete at a higher level."

Despite the scoreline, the Crimson controlled long stretches of play and spent significant time in the offensive zone. Colgate took seven penalties in the contest, providing Harvard with several extended power-play opportunities. Gwyn Lapp and Morgan McGathey paced the Crimson offense, each recording six shots on goal in the 35-shot effort for Harvard.

"We had a really good weekend in terms of shot volume," continued Bellamy. "We're getting pucks to the net, but we want to be sharper there... getting sticks on pucks, setting better screens, and creating more backside looks. There's a lot to work on, but putting up 35 shots shows we're in a good place. There's plenty of good, but we want to do more to put pucks away."

Harvard will now have the upcoming week to prepare for another challenging ECAC slate, as it heads to the North Country next weekend (Oct. 31–Nov. 1) for matchups against Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

How It Happened

In the second game of the Crimson's first ECAC series, the team battled the No. 9 Colgate Raiders on its home ice at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
 
The Raiders were first on the scoreboard in the matchup, benefiting off a deflected puck that found its way into the back of the net early in the first period. The Crimson responded well after the goal, controlling possession for a majority of the first period. The Crimson held a 10-6 lead in shots until a Colgate powerplay saw the Raiders log four shots. Davidson cleaned up all of the remaining attempts to hold off the Raiders as Harvard killed its first penalty of the night. The solid defensive stand from Harvard had the team trailing by just one at the first intermission.
 
Harvard went on the powerplay early in the second period after three consecutive Colgate penalties. The Crimson stormed the goal on the ensuing powerplay opportunities, logging 10 shots on goal. Colgate's goaltender managed to keep Harvard of the board to preserve the Raider advantage and kill off all three penalties. Colgate got another one to go midway through the period to take a 2-0 lead over the Crimson.
 
The Crimson's penalty kill unit continued to perform well, killing off another Raider powerplay after Davidson made four save, one of which was an impressive cross-crease diving stop on a wrap-around attempt on the far post. Colgate added two more goals in the period to take a 4-0 lead into the second intermission.
 
Despite facing the deficit, the Crimson kept pushing in the third period. Harvard put 10shots on net in the final period but could not come away with a goal. Colgate put one more tally on the board in the final frame to take a 5-0 win in the contest.  

Harvard Highlights

• Gwyn Lapp and Morgan McGathey led the team with six shots on goal each.
• Emily Davidson made 33 saves between the pipes.
• The Crimson blocked 13 shots as a team.
• Ella Lucia went 13-3 in the faceoff circle.

Up Next

Harvard will travel to Upstate New York next weekend for a two-game ECAC road trip against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. The Crimson will face the Golden Knights on Friday (Oct. 31) before taking on the Saints on Saturday (Nov. 1). Both contests will air live on ESPN+.