CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard women's ice hockey team will complete its first semester schedule this weekend with a pair of ECAC contests against Union and RPI. The Crimson (6-5-1, 3-4-1 ECAC) will host the Garnet Chargers (8-8-2, 2-6-0 ECAC) and the Engineers (4-15-0, 1-7-0 ECAC) at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center in the team's final two games before the finals and holiday break. Led by the Landry Family Head Coach for Harvard Women's Ice Hockey, Laura Bellamy, the Crimson is off to its best start since the 2021-22 season and will look to add two more conference wins to its register heading into the break.
Last Time Out
Harvard women's ice hockey last competed a week ago when it split a two-game series with the University of Maine at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. In the first game of the weekend, the Crimson trailed 3-2 late in the third period until
Ella Lucia slammed home a loose puck to force overtime. Harvard, however, fell in overtime to the Black Bears in a 3-4 (OT) defeat.
The Crimson lit up the scoreboard in a game two victory, scoring five goals from five different goalscorers in a complete and all-around 60-minute effort.
Ainsley Tuffy recorded her second win of the season by making 31 saves in the effort. The win helped Harvard improve its non-conference record to 3-1-0 on the season.
Series History Against Union, RPI
Harvard will welcome ECAC foes, Union and RPI, into the Bright-Landry Hockey Center this weekend, seeking revenge over the foes. The Crimson was swept by both squads last season and hopes to get back in the win column this weekend in the first of two meetings with each team this season.
In 42 meetings in the series history, Harvard owns a 35-6-1 record over Union, having won the first 26 meetings over the Garnet Chargers. The conflict has been more even in recent seasons with the Crimson still owning a 5-4-1 lead in the last 10 meetings.
The Harvard and RPI series history dates back to the 2006-07 season and has the Crimson in the lead with a 22-10-3 record over the Engineers. Harvard also owns a lead in the last ten games against the Engineers with a 6-3-1 record.
Player History Against Union, RPI
Junior forward
Gwyn Lapp has scored two career goals against Union – both coming during the Crimson's win over the Garnet Chargers in the 2023-24 season – to lead the team.
Emily Hamann has also found the back of the net in two career games against Union and
Keira Ley has recorded two assists in the series.
Zoe Boosamra,
Kaley MacDonald and
Ella Lucia all own assists in their careers against Union. Senior goaltender
Emily Davidson has started three games against Union and owns a .909 save percentage, a 2.32 GAA and one win.
In the series with RPI,
Kate Kasica leads active skaters with two assists in the series.
Zoe Boosamra is the only other member of the Crimson to log a point in the series with an assist in 2023-24. Both
Ainsley Tuffy and
Emily Davidson have started games against the Engineers in their careers. In two starts, Tuffy has allowed six goals and has saved 90-percent of shots faced. Davidson allowed only one goal in her only start against RPI in 2023-24, which was a 2-1 win and the first of her collegiate career.
Scouting Union
The Union Garnet Chargers come into the weekend with an even record of 8-8-2. The team has struggled in its three road games this season, posting an 0-3 record in losses to Quinnipiac (Oct. 31), Princeton (Nov. 1) and RPI (Nov. 7). The Garnet Chargers, however, have won three of its past four games after sweeping a two-game set against Delaware last weekend and picking up its biggest win of the campaign on Nov. 21 with a 4-3 (OT) win over No. 4 Cornell.
Through 18 games, Union is outscoring opponents 51-48 and averaging 31.0 shots per game on the attack. With 2.8 goals per game, the Garnet Chargers ranks 13
th nationally in scoring offense and 14
th in total team points with 126. Defensively, Union ranks ninth in the ECAC with 2.7 goals allowed per game. On special teams, Union has scored at an 18-percent clip on the powerplay (11-for-60) to rank 19
th in the NCAA. On the other end, the Garnet Chargers have been vulnerable on the powerplay, ranking 43
rd of 45 NCAA teams with just a 70-percent kill percentage (41-for-59).
Individually, Union is led by sophomore forward, Karianne Engelbert, who has posted 18 points this season with seven goals and 11 assists. The Garnet Chargers' leading scorer this season has been junior Maddie Leaney, who has lit the lamp 12 times – four of which have been game winners. Her .67 goals per game are good for fourth in the ECAC and the four game-winners have her ranked third nationally. Between the pipes, Junior goaltender Monja Wagner has emerged as the leader for Union this season. In 10 games played, Wagner owns a 2.95 GAA and a .908 save percentage.
Scouting RPI
The RPI Engineers head into the weekend with a 4-15-0 overall record, a 1-7-0 mark in ECAC play and a 3-7-0 road record. The squad is coming off a two-game series to Syracuse last weekend where it fell in back-to-back games to the Orange. The Engineers/ lone conference win came against Union (Nov. 7) in a 2-1 overtime victory.
As a team, the Engineers are being outscored by its opponents 30-69 on the season. RPI's scoring output of 1.6 goals per game ranks 11
th in the ECAC and its scoring defense of 3.63 goals allowed per game ranks last in the conference. On special teams, RPI owns a 12-percent powerplay percentage (5-for-42) and a 22-percent penalty kill clip (53-for-68).
Sophomore forward, Charlotte Wensley, leads the team in points and goals with nine and seven, respectively. First-year Mia Montanari leads the squad with six assist on the year. In goal, Reese Keating has emerged as the leader for RPI, posting a .906 save percentage and a 3.08 GAA in 15 starts.
Another One
For the fourth time in the past five weeks, a Harvard first-year has been named the ECAC Rookie of the Week. This time around,
Elle Sproule earned the honor after a three-point weekend against the University of Maine. A Connecticut native, Sproule opened the weekend with an assist in game one before scoring a goal and adding an assist in the game two win. The two-point output was her third multi-point game in her last five games.
Harvard has dominated the Rookie of the Week awards in the ECAC this season, taking four of the last five dating back to November 4. The only week the team did not win the award was during the team's bye week on Nov. 20-21. Sproule joins classmates
Izzy Whynot and
Morgan McGathey on the Rookie of the Week list after Whynot won the award in back-to-back weeks – on Nov. 4 and Nov. 11 – and McGathey claimed the honor on Nov. 18.
Rolling Right Along
Entering the final weekend of the first semester, several Harvard skaters will look to continue their strong play recently by keeping active point streak intact.
Elle Sproule is currently riding a five-game point streak and has notched eight points in her last five games. Her classmate,
Bella Finnegan, owns four points in her last three games and is riding a three-game point run.
Sproule's five game run matches the point streak by a Harvard first-year in the past ten years which was set by Kristin Della Rovere in 2018-19 and matched by
Ella Lucia last season. The streak also ties Lucia for the longest by a Harvard skater since Becca Gilmore in 2021-22, who went on a 10-game streak.
Standing Tall
The Crimson defense has been outstanding in 12 games played this season, allowing just 24 goals and holding opponents to just 2.0 goals per game. That number makes Harvard the 10th best scoring defense in the NCAA heading into the weekend. The defense has allowed two or fewer goals in eight of 12 games and has secured three shutouts already on the year.
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 1.97(10th nationally) and a save percentage of .938 (6th nationally). Davidson has posted two shutouts and Whynot added another to give Harvard three on the season, which is T14 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 30-of-34 penalties. The team's penalty killing percentage of .882 ranks eighth in the NCAA heading into the weekend. The Crimson had a season-best 16-kill streak snapped against Brown on Nov. 15.
Youth Movement
The Crimson offensive resurgence has been led by its undergraduate players, who account for 49 of the teams 74 points this season. Harvard's undergraduate points percentage of 66 is the highest in the ECAC after passing St. Lawrence (62-percent) and Brown (61-percent) this past weekend.
Nine of the team's 11 points in win over Maine were scored by undergraduate players which was the most points by the group in a game this season.
Sophomore goaltender
Ainsley Tuffy was phenomenal between the pipes in her last outing against Maine (Nov. 29). The Massachusetts native made 31 saves and allowed just one goal in the contest to secure her second victory of the season. In her three starts this season, Tuffy has allowed just four goals to post a GAA of 1.35. The netminder has also saved 96-percent of shots faced on the year.
Tuffy's save percentage would be the best in the nation if she qualified statistically and her GAA would be among the top five in the nation.
The Crimson Climb
Through just 12 games played, the Crimson is already showing rapid improvement from its 2024-25 season. The team has already tripled its wins total and is close to surpassing its goals output from the 2024-25 season. Harvard currently owns 31 goals and needs just four to reach its previous year total of 35.
Harvard Women's Hockey World Tour
The next time you will see the Crimson on the ice, the team will be playing in the 2026 Friendship Series in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Harvard will take on Minnesota Duluth in the first game of the first-ever women's tournament in Belfast. Should the Crimson move on, they will take on either Quinnipiac or Boston University in the Championship game.
