CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard women's hockey pushed Maine to the brink on Friday afternoon but could not close out the matchup in an eventual overtime defeat at Bright-Landry. The Crimson (5-5-1, 3-4-1 ECAC) received goals from Emily Hamann, Morgan McGathey, and Ella Lucia, but the Black Bears (5-10-1, 2-5-1 HEA) found the sudden-death winner to escape with a 4-3 victory.
 

How it Happened

The Crimson opened up a busy weekend this afternoon by welcoming in the Maine Black Bears to Bright-Landry for the first of two games against the Hockey East foe. The battle between the regional foes started right after the opening puck drop.  The teams traded chances early in a scoreless opening period, with Emily Davidson turning away all eight Black Bear shots to keep the frame level.
 
The scoring broke open late in the second period. Harvard struck first when Emily Hamann buried a shot to put the Crimson on top, finishing a sequence created by Kaley MacDonald and a touch pass from Zoe Boosamra. The lead was short-lived, however, as Maine answered just 45 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the second break.
 
The third period featured a flurry of offense from both sides. Maine grabbed its first lead of the afternoon early in the period, but Harvard responded with a strong push. At the midway point in the frame, Morgan McGathey tied the game after finishing off a passing sequence from Elle Sproule and Gwynn Lapp, leveling the score at 2-2.
 
A Maine tally with six minutes remaining put the Black Bears ahead once more, but the Crimson refused to go away. With the net empty and time winding down, Harvard went to a late power play and executed to perfection. Ella Lucia tipped home the game-tying goal with 20.8 seconds remaining, assisted by Bella Finnegan and Kaley MacDonald, to force overtime.
 
In the extra frame, both teams traded brief possessions before Maine capitalized on a transition chance at 3:13 of overtime, netting the sudden-death winner to take the 4-3 final.
 
 

Harvard Highlights

• Emily Hamann increased her team lead with her fifth-goal of the season.
• Morgan McGathey and Ella Lucia scored the second and third Crimson goals.
• Kaley MacDonald logged two assists.
• Zoe Boosamra, Elle Sproule, Bella Finnegan and Gwyn Lapp all recorded helpers.
• MacDonald also led the team with five blocked shots.
• Emily Davidson made 27 saves to backstop the effort.

 

Game Notes

• Morgan McGathey found the back of the net to extend her goal scoring streak to three games.
• Zoe Boosamra and Elle Sproule increased their point streaks to four games.

 

Up Next

The Crimson and the Black Bears will square off again tomorrow afternoon in the second game of the series. The puck is set to drop at 3:00 PM with all the action streaming live on ESPN+.