CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – With the ECAC standings race heating up, Harvard women's hockey will hit the road this weekend where it will look to secure some key conference points in its matchups with Colgate and No. 12 Cornell. The Crimson (11-11-2, 5-9-2 ECAC) is set to take on Colgate (13-13-1, 8-7-1 ECAC) on Friday before making the trip to Lynah Rink to battle Cornell (13-9-2, 9-6-1 ECAC) on Saturday. The Crimson is five-and-a-half points out of eighth place in the conference – which would give the Crimson a home playoff game in the ECAC Tournament - with just three weeks remaining in the regular season.
The Matchup
The Crimson will play a pair of critical ECAC contests this weekend as it begins its chase toward earning a home playoff game. Harvard would need to move into eighth place to earn hosting rights in the first round ECAC Tournament and will have to jump St. Lawrence or Colgate to get there. With only six games remaining in the regular season, the Crimson need to make up a 5.5-point deficit in the standings to have a chance of earning hosting rights, making Friday's matchup with the Raiders a critical contest to keep pace in the ECAC standings race.
Series History Against Colgate and Cornell
- Harvard leads the all-time series with Colgate with a 31-22-3 record.
- The Raiders have fought back in the series recently, owning a 1-9-0 record against the Crimson dating back to 2019-20.
- The Crimson own a 55-47-4 record in the conflict with Cornell that dates back to the 1978-79 season.
- Cornell has won the past five matchups against Harvard, prior to the Crimson posting four consecutive wins over Cornell in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Player History Against St. Lawrence/Clarkson
- Seven Crimson student-athletes own points in their careers against Cornell. Kaley MacDonald leads the way with four points, two goals and two assists.
- MacDonald has logged a point in five of her six career games against the Big Red.
- Ella Lucia and Gwyn Lapp each own a pair of assists in the series.
- Emi Biotti posted two points with a goal and an assist in the matchup earlier this season. Emily Hamann and Angelica Megdanis have each scored a goal against Cornell and Zoe Boosamra owns one assist.
- All three Crimson goaltenders have seen action in the rivalry. Izzy Whynot started the first game against Cornell this season, making 27 saves and allowing five goals.
- Tuffy has played in two games, allowing five goals and making 40 saves across 72 minutes played.
- Davidson has also played in two contests against Cornell, making 26 saves and allowing six goals in 48 minutes played.
ECAC Standings Race
With just six games remaining in the ECAC regular season, Harvard owns 18 conference points and sits in ninth place in the table. The team is just 5.5 points behind St. Lawrence, who sits in eighth place. Colgate currently is in seventh place in the conference with 24.5 points
Boston Belongs to the Harvard Crimson
The Beanpot made its return to Cambridge on Tuesday (Jan. 20) after the Crimson knocked off the Boston University Terriers in the 47th Dunkin' Women's Beanpot Championship game. It was a storybook ending for the Crimson, who got the win in overtime after
Carla McSweeney scored on a penalty shot. The victory was sparked by a tremendous goaltending effort from sophomore
Ainsley Tuffy, who made 46 saves to stump the Terrier offense. For her stellar effort, Tuffy was named the Beanpot MVP and the Bertagna Award winner as the tournament's top goalie.
Bellamy Becomes the First
After capturing the 2026 Dunkin' Women's Beanpot Championship, the Landry Family Head Coach for Harvard Women's Ice Hockey, Laura Bellamy, is now in her own category in the tournament's storied history. Bellamy is officially the only person to ever win the Beanpot as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
A member of three Beanpot Championship teams, Bellamy helped lead her team to the 2010 Beanpot as the team's starting goaltender in 2010. In the two games, Bellamy posted two shutouts while making 42 saves to shutout both Boston College and Northeastern. Bellamy was behind the bench for the Crimson in the 2015 tournament and now owns a title as a head coach after winning the 2026 tournament this season.
It Takes Everyone
Contributions from the entire lineup have helped the Crimson find success on the offensive end of the ice in 2025-26. Harvard already has seven skaters in double figures through 24 games after having just two in 2024-25.
Carla McSweeney leads the group with 13 points and nine goals while
Elle Sproule and
Angelica Megdanis are tied in second on the team with 12 points.
Zoe Boosamra,
Ella Lucia,
Morgan McGathey and
Emily Hamann are the other four skaters in double figures for Harvard.
McClutch
In just her first season with the Crimson,
Carla McSweeney is beginning to make a name for herself by coming through in clutch moments. Most recently, the Chicago native scored the overtime game-winner – off a penalty shot – against Boston University in the Beanpot.
McSweeney lived up to her "McClutch" nickname in the Friendship Series as well, scoring the game-winning goal against No. 5 Minnesota Duluth in the semifinal round of the tournament.
The first-year currently leads the Crimson with 13 points and nine goals – three of which are game-winners - on the season.
Getting in the Way
A staple of the Harvard defense since Laura Bellamy's hiring has been blocking shots. Harvard's defensive core has continued to get into shooting lanes and disrupt opposing forwards with active sticks that has led to 363 blocked shots this season. The third highest total in the ECAC, Harvard is led by
Kaley MacDonald who has blocked 56 shots this season.
Standing Tall
The Crimson defense has been outstanding in 24 games played this season, allowing just 51 goals and holding opponents to just 2.1 goals per game. That number makes Harvard the 13th best scoring defense in the NCAA heading into the week. The defense has allowed two or fewer goals in 14 of 24 games and has secured three shutouts on the year.
Harvard's standout sophomore goaltender,
Ainsley Tuffy, made history at the Beanpot on Tuesday (Jan. 20), becoming just the second player ever to win the Beanpot MVP and the Bertagna Award given to the tournament's top goaltender. The Duxbury native was selected as the recipient for both awards after making 86 saves and allowing just two goals in the two games of the tournament.
Tuffy currently ranks second in the nation with a .953 save percentage, 14th with a .625-win percentage and 11th with her 1.73 GAA. This season, the sophomore owns 425 saves and has allowed only 21 goals in 12 games played.
Down a Skater, Up for the Challenge
The Harvard penalty kill has been on an excellent run this season, stopping opponents on 46-of-54 penalties. The team's penalty killing percentage of .852 ranks second in the ECAC and 11
th in the NCAA heading into the week. 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 86 of the teams 133 points this season. Harvard's undergraduate points percentage of 65 is the highest in the ECAC.
Nine of the team's 11 points in win over Maine (Nov. 28-29) were scored by undergraduate players which was the most points by the group in a game this season.
The Crimson Climb
The Crimson showed rapid improvement from its 2024-25 season in just the first semester of 2025-26. The team posted seven wins, which tied the program's wins total from the last two seasons combined. Harvard also scored 36 goals in the first semester schedule which was more than the team's 2024-25 season total of 35 goals.
Taking Home ECAC Weekly Awards
For her spectacular play in net during the friendship series, sophomore goaltender,
Ainsley Tuffy earned the ECAC's MAC Goaltending Goalie of the Week award on Jan. 5. The sixth weekly award for the Crimson this season, Tuffy earned the nomination after posting a 55-save win over No. 5 Minnesota Duluth in the Friendship Series Semifinal (Jan. 2). It is the first ECAC weekly honor in Tuffy's career and the first Goaltender of the Week award since
Emily Davidson in the 2024-25 season.
The Crimson dominated the conferences Rookie of the Week award early in the season, taking four awards in a five-week stretch.
Izzy Whynot earned the award in back-to-back weeks, followed by
Elle Sproule and
Morgan McGathey. Carla McSweneey has also earned conference honors, being named the ECAC Rookie of the Month in December.
Biotti Beats the Buzzer
First-year defender
Emi Biotti scored the latest game-winning goal in Harvard Women's Ice Hockey history on Friday (Jan. 9), beating the buzzer and putting the puck in the back of the net with just 0.2 second remaining in overtime against Brown (Jan. 9). It was Biotti's third goal of the season and sent Harvard off with its first win over Brown in four years.
180 Degree Turnaround
Under the leadership of Laura Bellamy and her staff, the Crimson has shown rapid improvement from previous seasons. Currently at 11 wins in 2025-26, the Crimson has posted nine more victories than 2024-25, which is already tied for the third biggest turnaround in program history.
When looking at just regular season records, the Crimson's +9-win mark stands alone as the third highest increase in program history, just one win shy of second place and five shy of the program record for largest turnaround.
Up Next
Harvard women's ice hockey will continue ECAC action next week with a home series against Quinnipiac and Princeton (Feb. 6-7). The puck will drop at 3:00 in both matchups at the Bright Landry Hockey Center and all the action will air live on ESPN+. The Saturday matchup against Princeton will serve as Harvard's senior night and National Girls and Women in Sports Day Celebration Game.
