CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Fresh off a bye week, Harvard women's ice hockey is set to return to the ice this weekend, when it will host the University of Maine in a two-game series. The Crimson (5-4-1, 3-4-1 ECAC) will battle the Black Bears (4-10-1, 2-5-1 HEA) for the second consecutive season when Maine makes the trip South this weekend. The ECAC-Hockey East showdowns are set for Friday (Nov. 28) and Saturday (Nov. 29) with both contests set to air live on ESPN+ and begin at 3:00 PM.
 
Harvard women's ice hockey will also host its fourth annual Teddy Bear Toss Game in the Saturday contest against Maine. Fans are encouraged to bring a stuffed animal to throw onto the ice after the Crimson scores its first goal against the Black Bears.
 

Last Time Out

The Crimson enjoyed a bye week this past weekend after picking up four points in a challenging ECAC weekend on Nov. 14-15. Harvard first defeated No. 10 Yale, 4-1, before falling in overtime to No. 13 Brown, 4-3, picking up a conference point in the process.
 
In the Friday night tilt against Yale, Morgan McGathey and Annie Sun both scored their first collegiate goals in the first period to help spark the Crimson. Emi Biotti and Emily Hamann added tallies in the contest to propel Harvard to the upset. Saturday against Brown, Morgan McGathey continued her breakout weekend by scoring a pair of goals in the first period. Zoe Boosamra added a goal in the third period to help Harvard send the game to overtime, where it eventually fell to the No. 13 Bears, 4-3.
 
Through four conference weekends, Harvard sits in eighth place in the ECAC with 11.5 points.
 

Series History Against Maine

The Crimson and the Black Bears have met 11 times in series history that dates back to the 1998-99 season. Harvard owns a 9-2-0 lead in the conflict but Maine has taken each of the last two meetings in 2024-25 and 2014-15. Prior to those contests, the series was all Harvard, as the Crimson took the first nine meetings in the series history.
Last season, Harvard took Maine to overtime, where it eventually suffered a defeat to the Black Bears.
 

Player History Against Maine

Crimson skaters have a bit of familiarity with Maine after playing the team last season at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. Zoe Boosamra owns a goal against the Black Bears while three other skaters recorded assists last season. Emily Hamann, Angelica Megdanis and Kaley MacDonald tallied the helpers to come into this series with points in the matchup. Ainsley Tuffy started last season's meeting and made 27 saves between the pipes in the OT loss.
 

Scouting the Black Bears

Maine comes into the weekend with a 4-10-1 record and a 2-5-1 clip in Hockey East play. The team's wins came against Saint Anselm, No. 8 Colgate, Boston U. and Holy Cross. The Black Bears are currently on a three-game losing skid after being swept by No. 8 Northeastern last weekend.

As a team, Maine is being outscored 39-24 on the season and is averaging 1.6 goals per game. The offense is averaging 28.8 shots per game and owns 37 assists on its 24 goals. The Maine powerplay has struggled this season, scoring at just a 7-percent (3-for-44) clip but the Black Bear penalty kill has been almost impenetrable, allowing just four goals on 52 penalties for a 92-percent success rate that ranks second nationally.
 
First-year Isabelle Michaud leads the team with eight points off four goals and four assists and is followed by classmate Lulu Rucinski and senior Ava Stevenson who own six points on the season. Sophomore Kiia Lahtinen has started all 15 games in net for Maine and owns a 2.45 GAA and a .926 save percentage.
 

Against Hockey East

Harvard has had some success against Hockey East programs in the past four seasons, including during the current 2025-26 campaign. The Crimson defeated New Hampshire earlier this season to record its fourth win over Hockey East programs under Laura Bellamy. The other victories came against No. 8 Connecticut in 2024-25 as well as against No. 15 Boston College and Boston University in 2023-24. Additionally, Harvard posted two ties against Boston College and Providence in the past three seasons. Overall, the Crimson owns a 3-6-2 record against Hockey East programs under Bellamy.
 

Breakout Weekend for No. 4

First-year forward Morgan McGathey got her name on the score sheet for the first time in her collegiate career in Harvard's game against No. 10 Yale two weeks ago and proceeded to continue her offensive tear with two more goals against No. 13 Brown in the following game. Her three-goal weekend helped her earn ECAC Rookie of the Week honors, giving Harvard three consecutive conference Rookies of the Week. Izzy Whynot collected the previous two, marking the first time Harvard has had back-to-back Rookies of the Week since Jillian Dempsey '13 in the 2009 season. This trio of awards marks the first time in program history Harvard has had three consecutive conference Rookie of the Week honors.
 
McGathey now owns five points in 10 career games with three goals and two assists along with a +6 rating, which is second best on the squad.
 

Standing Tall

The Crimson defense has been outstanding in 10 games played this season, allowing just 19 goals and holding opponents to just 1.9 goals per game. That number makes Harvard the 11^th best scoring defense in the NCAA heading into the weekend. The defense has allowed two or fewer goals in seven of 10 games and has secured three shutouts already on the year.
 
The team's three clean sheets are the most through 10 games since the 2015-16 season, when the team shutout four of its first 10 opponents.
 

Blocking Shots

A staple of Harvard's defensive success in the Bellamy era has been getting into shooting lanes and blocking shots. The team set a program record with 536 blocked shots a year ago and has continued to make an effort in that area this year, posting 124 in eight games.
 
Kaley MacDonald's 21 blocked shots lead the team and sophomore forward Scout Oudemool is close behind with 17 on the year, making her one of the nation's leaders in blocked shots by a forward.
 

Minding the Net

One of Harvard's biggest strengths this season has been its goaltending platoon of Emily Davidson, Ainsley Tuffy and Izzy Whynot. The trio has combined to post a GAA of 1.872 (10^th nationally) and a save percentage of .938 (5^th nationally). Davidson has posted two shutouts and Whynot added another to give Harvard three on the season, which is T9 in the NCAA.
 
Down a Skater, Up for the Challenge
The Harvard penalty kill has been on fire to start the season, stopping opponents on 26-of-29 penalties. The team's penalty killing percentage of .897 ranks sixth in the NCAA heading into the weekend. The Crimson recently had a 16-kill streak snapped by Brown in its last game.
 

Davidson is Dominant

Senior netminder, Emily Davidson has been dominant in her four starts this season, earning three wins and posting two shutouts to help propel the Crimson to early season success. Her consistency between the pipes has helped her climb into the top 10 in four key goaltending categories nationally.
Davidson's National Rankings
- 10^th in winning percentage (.750)
- 9^th in GAA (1.50)
- 5^th in SV% (.949)
- t9^th in Shutouts (2)
 

Youth Movement

The Crimson underclass skaters have impressed this season, showcasing the team's growth under Bellamy and her staff. Of the team's 54 points this season, 35 belong to underclass skaters, giving Harvard the second-best percentage in the ECAC at .648.
 
Keira Ley, Ella Lucia, Morgan McGathey and Elle Sproule hold the lead in first-year/sophomore scoring with five points each through 10 games.  
 

Up Next

The Crimson will play one more series next weekend before wrapping up the first half of the 2025-26 campaign. Harvard will stay at its home rink to take on ECAC foes Union and RPI at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. The Crimson will first face off against the Union Garnet Chargers on Friday (Dec. 5) before taking on the RPI Engineers on Saturday (Dec. 6). Both games will see the puck drop at 3:00 PM with all the action streaming live on ESPN+.